Search for the Cure
by tf-fan
Summary: My first NWN fic, and rating may go up for future chapters. Basically just a semiexaggerated version of my campaign in my game, but better! I'm following the storyline of the game because it's my first NWN fic, but it'll be good! CHAPTER 9 NOW UP!
1. Beginning

Wow, it's been a loong time since I've even posted anything. And to think my first post after so long would be on Neverwinter Nights...I honestly thought it would be one of my Transformer fics, but oh well! shrugs This is actually my first time writing a NWN fic, so I'm gonna stick to the original storyline in the original game (not one of the expansions), to be on the safe side. And besides, that's the one I'm pretty familiar with. So...I guess if I get enough reviews, maybe I'll start to venture away a little from the original storyline and do what I want! Well, at least staying with the things in the game and stuff...so, yeah...I'm just rambling on now, so I'll get on with the fic! Woot! XD

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of these characters! I only own Saria and whatever she possesses! Actually, those belong to the game, too, so...Ah, the heck with it. You get what I'm saying.

**Prelude:**

**Jewel of the North**

The City of Neverwinter, Jewel of the North. A great city, a bastion of civilization. The city, ruled by Lord Nasher Alagondar, was brought crashing down when the Wailing Death came. With little options to go with, Lord Alagondar placed Lady Aribeth de Tylmerand in charge of finding a cure for this plague, as well as someone that she would appoint herself to assist. To do this, she put forth a call for all adventurers, hoping a hero would emerge. These adventurers were trained under the greatest minds in the Neverwinter Academy. With any luck, hopefully there would be a student great enough to surface to the top and vanquish the cause of the Wailing Death. One of those potential studetns was a half-elf female cleric named Saria Cloudwalker, whose home was not far form the gates of Neverwinter. She'd gone to visit a friend of hers inside the city three days prior to the city's epidemic, and answered the call when it had been sent. Ever since, she's trained long and hard in hopes of recieving her blessing from the great elvin paladin, Lady Aribeth.

**End**

Man, when I said I'd stick to the storyline...I meant it, didn't I? Well, not _completely_ to the storyline, but just about. Anywho, I hope you enjoy it. I'll probably post the REAL first chapter soon. Sayoonara!

Saria

(And **yes**, the name I used on my game was in fact Saria Cloudwalker, and that's the name I use for my OC's all the time. So no stealing it! It says so in my profile...)


	2. Chapter 1, Part 1

Yay! My first reviews! And, of course, the first one was from PP. Okay, so she's mad about my first fic in a while NOT being TF...oh well! (And I _know_ she's mad at me for that) Sorry for the long wait, people. My internet was down and I couldn't post anything, so…here ya go! The first _real_ chapter.

**Chapter 1, Part 1:**

**The Final Days at the Academy**

Saria Cloudwalker rose early from her bed one morning, not able to sleep. She had at least two more days until she graduated, and she'd been too anxious to sleep. She grabbed her staff from the top of her footlocker and went into the Training Quarters. One good thing she found about the training area was that it was always open. She often went there to blow off steam or get rid of extra energy when she needed to. Before she left her dorm, she quickly washed up and dressed, putting her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. She walked down the hall, past old Olgerd's school shop door, and entered the room full of 'dummies'. She laughed inwardly, letting a grin curl from her lips when that thought crossed her mind.

"I could certainly use some of the students here as target dummies," she said to herself.

"And I'm sure you'd get yourself kicked out if you did," came a male voice from the other side of the room. "I'd bet you would think it was worth it, too."

Saria's eyes looked around and saw a dark-skinned elf with a cocky grin on his face, leaning in the doorway that led to the classrooms. She laughed.

"Shade, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Oh, just checking up on my favorite cleric," he said with the same grin.

"And by 'checking up,' you mean spying as usual?"

"Of course."

Shade, the elf rogue, walked forward with his arms crossed. He eyed her staff and an idea popped in his head. When he finally crossed to her, he tapped the blade of one of his daggers on her staff.

"Why don't we spar for a little? It'll get that pre-graduation anxiousness out of you. What do you say?"

She grinned and tapped her staff on his shoulder as she walked past him.

"First off, I'm _not_ anxious," she said playfully, turning around.

"Oh no? What do _you_ call it, then?" he asked, facing her.

"Second," she continued, "What do I get if I whoop you?"

Shade crossed his arms again and there was a gleam in his eye that she recognized as his contemplative face.

"Well, what do _I_ get if I whoop _you_?"

Saria laughed, having some idea what was on his mind.

"That's not going to happen," Saria said, laughing again.

Shade grinned even more, drawing out another dagger and running behind Saria. He wrapped one arm around her waist and one around her shoulders before she was able to react.

"And while you're too busy talking, why don't I just win right now?" he asked teasingly.

Saria yelped, struggling against Shade's hold. He grinned and pulled her closer to him. The more she struggled, the more he chuckled in her ear.

"I'm not going to let you get away from me this time," he whispered.

A thought made itself present in his head and he continued to grin. He could feel Saria becoming slightly open to being held 'hostage' by him, but he wanted to send shivers down her spine. His grin remained as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the base of her neck. She gasped, feeling a sudden swelling feeling in her chest. Her hands shook and she was aware of her hands nearly dropping her staff. He ran the blade of his dagger down the front of her tunic, snapping the strings that closed the top of it. Saria gasped as she looked down, now aware that Shade was catching a glimpse of her cleavage.

"And to think you'd hide these from me," he cooed, trailing a finger down.

"That's because they're not for you to see," she retorted, trying to mask the nervousness in her voice.

She took in several deep, yet quiet, breaths to try to calm herself, but it proved futile when she felt him kissing on her neck again. It quickly stopped, however, when footsteps were heard approaching the Training Room.

"Another time," he whispered, running a finger up her neck.

She gasped, but ran off to change her tunic. She did not want the instructors to get the wrong idea when they saw her tunic strings had been snapped and red marks where her collar was. When she returned with a tunic that had a slightly higher collar, Shade had vanished and a few more students had entered the Training Room for morning practice. She sighed and went to the Dining Hall, hoping some food might calm her nerves a bit. Little did she know, her Elf rogue was watching her at a distance.

"Soon…" he whispered to himself, smiling. "Soon, Saria. Don't you worry."

He walked towards the Barracks and to Saria's room, where he deposited a small leather-bound book on her nightstand. On it, engraved in simple goldleaf lettering, read 'Journal.'


	3. Chapter 1, Part 2

Wow, already the reviews are coming in! My thanks to light-forsaken-knight (also known now as Kaia Moonchild) for being the first reviewer on Part 1!

Okay, for the disclaimer…do you honestly think I'd be here if I actually _owned_ NWN?

…didn't think so. XD

So, onto Part 2!

**Chapter 1, Part 2:**

**Final Days at the Academy**

After going through rigorous training the entire day, Saria leaned against the wall of the classroom and slid to the floor in exhaustion. Sweat rolled down her face from all the effort she put into both her melee and magic training. She knew that some clerics trained to attack and assist at a distance, but she like to be close to the action. Ranged attacks were all fine and dandy, but it just never quite cut it for her. It was, quite honestly, one of the things that drove her to train that much harder.

But that wasn't what was driving her to push herself this hard for so long a time period.

…at least, not this time.

What happened earlier that morning kept playing through her head, and no matter how hard she trained she couldn't get it out of her mind. She wouldn't deny the fact that, ever since she came to the Academy, she'd always had her eye on Shade. He was attractive, she had to admit. She smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she met him…

_**Flashback…**_

Saria Cloudwalker sat by herself for supper in the Dining Hall. She was always one to go out and make friends herself, but she was just too tired. It was the first week of being at the Academy, and she was already exhausted from such a rigorous day. As she scarfed down her food, she didn't notice anyone coming up behind her. She felt a tap on her shoulder right in the middle of a bite in her biscuit; it startled her so badly that she began to choke. The fact that she was nearly inhaling her food didn't help the situation at all.

Whoever was behind her promptly picked her up by the armpits and began doing the Heimlich maneuver. Once the piece of bread was safely out of her windpipe, she was put back in her seat and was given a goblet of water. She put it to her mouth and began guzzling the liquid down in hopes to rid her of her rather violent coughing; she felt a hand on her back and something pushing the goblet down to keep the liquid inside the glass from spilling everywhere else.

"Slowly," she heard a male voice say. "You want to sooth your throat, not make yourself choke again."

Saria found herself taking in slower gulps, finally easing her throat. She pulled the cup away from her lips and looked over to whoever it was that so quickly helped her. The minute she saw the dark-skinned elf that she saw when she first came to the Academy startled her nearly to the point of choking on the water that was in her mouth.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She could feel the blood rising in her cheeks, but she was clear-headed enough to answer in a nod. He introduced himself as Shade, of a rogue class and elven race; she introduced herself as Saria, of a cleric class and half-elven race. From then on, they had begun training together, and eventually just hanging out everywhere together. There was quite some talk going around the Academy for a while, no doubt coming from all the time they spent in each other's company. But it soon died out and they were left at peace from the neverending stares and whispers.

One day, while they were roaming the hallways, Shade had something on his mind ever since he saw her blush in the Dining Hall.

"Saria, could I ask you something?"

She blinked and tilted her head in a questioning way.

"What's on your mind?" she replied.

"I'm rather curious to know…why is it that you're always so well-behaved in your classes, while you're so loud and out-spoken around me?"

_**End flashback**_

Saria remembered when she was so close to telling him that she'd liked him the minute she saw him. She wanted to, but she couldn't. So she settled for hinting at it. She was positive that he'd figured it out a long time ago, he just never let it on. She was afraid of telling him the truth because she thought it would ruin their friendship. There was always that little voice that told her it was ridiculous and she should tell him anyway, but there was yet another that screamed against it for fear of losing him completely. Her head hung low as she thought about it for the billionth time.

She sighed and heaved her tired body up. It was almost time for her finals, and she didn't want to look completely exhausted, so she trudged her way to the Barracks where she gratefully flopped down on her bed to take a nap. She set a spell on her nightstand that she'd managed to create on her own, and she thought it was the cutest little thing. It was a sort of timer in the form of a lizard that, if you didn't get up when it sounded, would take whatever furniture it was on and hurl it at you.

It was dangerous, yes, but it certainly got you up.

…

…

When the alarm sounded from the spell she cast, she subconsciously flung her hand at it and nearly killed the little thing. Then it started to do a high-pitched screech, and Saria silenced that, too. She unwillingly got up and dragged her body to the washroom of her Barracks. Luckily there was no one around, so she happily dumped the warm water over her body and began washing; in the meantime, there was a faucet hung overhead to fill the bucket again when you needed to rinse. Once she was done, she wrapped a large piece of cloth around her body and was about to leave the washroom when she heard a voice from the entrance.

"Have a nice shower?"

Saria stopped cold.

The layout of the washroom is this: when you enter the washroom, you see nothing but a short hallway. As you walk down that hallway you have ten shower stations to your left and right, separated by their own walls and curtain to ensure at least _some_ privacy. To accommodate the students in the Barracks, there are usually two washrooms to every 20 students. Saria was located in the second shower on the left-hand side.

In short, whoever was talking was _very_ close to her.

She knew she was unarmed and, quite honestly, somewhat vulnerable. Granted, she had her spells, but that could only do so much.

"Who…who's there?" she asked nervously, readying a spell.

When the voice came again, she just about screamed her head off at him.

"Shade! What in the name of the gods are you _doing in here_!" she screeched.

The elf was very startled to hear his friend so angry. He put his hands up in defense and tried to calm her down and prevent her from doing any hasty spellcasting.

"Saria, calm down! I didn't mean to startle you," he said, trying his soothing voice.

"Calm down! You want me to calm down when _you_ are the one that is sneaking up on me while I am in nothing but a piece of _cloth_!"

Shade grinned, but Saria cut him off.

"Don't you EVEN try that on me!"

"I know. You're too angry," he muttered.

A thought crossed Shade's mind and he grinned.

"But I _do_ know something that might calm you."

"Oh? And what might--?"

Shade took a swift step forward and pulled Saria into a kiss. When he could feel her tension slipping away, he wrapped his arm around her waist and put a hand on her cheek. All of Saria's anger fell away, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his body. Shade broke the kiss and looked into Saria's eyes with those mischevious eyes of his.

"Now, go get dressed. The finals start soon, and I won't have my favorite cleric late for her exam."

She nodded, still at a loss of words from the kiss.

Saria's body was still shaking as she said, "Shade…?"

He smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, I already know," before pulling her into another kiss.

**After the exam…**

Saria came out of the classroom with the brightest smile she had ever had. The minute she was out of the classroom, she let out a big squeal and spun around in circles. She went to the rogue training classroom and found Shade disabling a trap and unlocking a door. The minute he was done, he looked over to the door and saw Saria waiting for him. He smiled, but waited for his instructor's approval for him to proceed to the Graduation Chamber. The minute he did, he sprinted to her and smiled.

"Ready to graduate?" she asked him with a big grin.

"With you by my side," he said, hugging her and giving her a small kiss.

"Then let's go!" she said happily, kissing him back.

They both went to the guard that stood before the Graduation Hall's door and he let them pass. Once inside, they found others who had already graduated and were waiting for the ceremony to begin. Shade and Saria took this time to get a corner to themselves and spend a little time before the ceremony and dinner. Shade stood Saria against a back wall and kissed her again and again, with Saria giggling every time.

"Tonight, Saria, you shall have a night you will never forget," he whispered in her ear.

"Oh?" she asked. "What do you have in mind?"

"You will have to wait until tonight, my dear," he said.

This time he kissed her and held it, making Saria sigh. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled them as close as their bodies would. They were interrupted, however, by a voice of a dwarf that was nearby.

"Hey, the ceremony is about to begin!"

They looked to the center of the room, and sure enough Lady Aribeth was taking her place in the front of the room, beginning to address the gradutates.

**000000000000**

Y'know, that one part sounded more like Harry Potter than Neverwinter, didn't it? Ah…it was funny anyway! I mean, can't a cleric make up her own stuff? _.:does puppydog eyes:._ Anyway, R&R and I should have the next chapter up soon!

Saria.


	4. Chapter 2

Alrighty, I now have more reviews! Hee hee, that's awesome! Okay, I'm sorry I dragged out the first chapter so long, but I just couldn't see putting it all into one big, long thing. Besides, how else could I have worked in that cliffhanger on the first chapter? I've also gotten quite a few comments on the OCxShade fluff. For those of you who aren't quite for that, too bad. For those of you that are (namely LFK and Mayane), expect to see more!

Sorry for the wait. I got this horrible writer's block and it mad me so mad…GAH! Curse the writer's block… : - (

As for the disclaimer…

Check the previous chapter so I don't have to type it again. So, here we go with chapter 2!

**Chapter 2:**

**Raid on the Academy**

As Lady Aribeth gave the graduation speech she caught sight of Saria and, when she was finished with her oration, she beckoned her over.

"Saria Cloudwalker, I am especially proud of you. All of your instructors have spoken highly of you, and you ranked in the top ten of your class. Well done."

She was overjoyed when she heard such praise from such a noble paladin, and she curtsied low in thanks.

"Your words are an honor, my lady, but I could not have done it on my own," she said with a gentle voice.

"Yes, I have heard quite some rumors going around the Academy as of late, concerning you and Shade," Aribeth said, letting a small grin show.

Saria stood up immediately, her face clearly a bright shade of pink.

"But then again rumors are rumors," she added, a grin showing clearly now. "I would like to speak to you in private, if I may, after the ceremony. We should arrange – wait, what is that?"

Saria felt a surge of magical energy and quickly drew her staff. Sure enough, four mages appeared in a flash of bluish-white light and began attacking everyone in the room. Saria heard Lady Aribeth shout 'We are under attack!' the minute the mages appeared, and she looked around for Shade. She found him already attacking the mage nearest him, and she ran for the same enemy. Many of the mages tried to eliminate the other graduates in one attack to get to the Lady Aribeth sooner, but that proved to be more difficult than planned.

Saria no sooner got to Shade's side that he ran off to do away with the next mage. She followed him, casting healing spells on others as she fought alongside her rogue. During the battle she got hit with a spell, knocking her backwards. The hit to her side put quite a nasty gash in her flesh, but she got up regardless of it and continued fighting. Saria saw Shade running to fight the second-to-last mage in the room, but Saria sat down to take a rest. She no sooner drank a small healing potion when she got hit by a ray of magic from the last mage, nearly killing her. She cried out in pain as she collapsed to the floor, her stomach covered in blood.

"Saria!" she heard Shade yell.

He ran to her, placing a hand on the back of her neck as he wrapped the other arm around her waist to lift her from the floor. Placing his knees below her back, he reached into a pouch and brought out a healing potion. Taking out the cork with his teeth he tilted the mouth of the bottle to Saria's lips, supporting her head as well to make sure she drank it. Once the bottle was empty, he cast it aside and stroked her cheek. The wounds were mended almost instantly, the holes in her stomach and side whole once again and the blood flow stopped. Saria found herself relieved of the pain, but it was replaced by fatigue. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Shade brought Saria's forehead to his lips and smiled, sitting there for a moment's peace.

As the mages were slain, three out of the eleven warriors had died during the battle. There was mixture of weeping for their friends and curses upon whoever sent the attack.

"Help…me up," Saria said, wincing.

Shade took Saria's arms and wrapped them around his neck as he pulled her up from the floor. Once she was on her feet she could feel her head spinning and leaned on Shade's shoulder.

"Whew…so dizzy…"

Once it passed, she bent down and picked up her staff from the ground and used it to help her walk until she felt her head completely clear. She saw Lady Aribeth at the entrance of the Graduation Chamber, pacing nervously back and forth. When she caught sight of Saria walking towards her, she quickly closed the gap between Saria and herself.

"Saria, I must speak with you," she said urgently.

Lady Aribeth made a brief glance at Shade, but quickly adverted her gaze back to Saria and made the look in her eye a pressing one. Shade caught it and bowed. He placed a kiss on Saria's cheek and left without a word.

"Saria, I fear this attack was not at random."

As Lady Aribeth explained the situation, Saria's eyes narrowed.

"So you believe this attack was placed here on purpose…because whoever launched it thought you would be with the Waterdhavian's?"

"Yes. Neverwinter has many enemy's. There are those who display it openly like Luskan, but there are others who are not so open."

"But Lady Aribeth…no one outside of the Academy had knowledge of the creatures. Those that did believed it a rumor."

Aribeth cast sad brown eyes to the ground, but then met Saria's eyes again.

"Yes, perhaps I just put too much trust in the students and staff…"

Her eyes suddenly lit up and she clasped her hands. She reached for a beltloop on her armor and took of an ornate key, handing it to Saria.

"Saria, I need you to go to the Waterdhavian creatures in place of me!"

Saria blinked, not believing what she was hearing.

"What? Begging your pardon, my lady, but…why me?"

"As I said before, this attack was not by chance. The attackers were most likely magically centered on me, thinking I was indeed with the Waterdhavian creatures. The assailants will attack again, and I need to be sure of the creatures' safety. To be sure of it, I need someone to go in my stead. Take this key and go down the hall. You will come to a large door that is normally locked to students. Go inside and make your way to the stables."

Saria blinked, still processing the information she had just been given. She took the key from the elf's hand and nodded.

"I…will do it, Lady Aribeth."

Aribeth's eyes lit up when she heard one of her top students accept.

"Hurry! The fate of Neverwinter depends on these creatures!" she urged, rushing her out the door.

As Saria was hurried through the door, she realized she was forgetting Shade. She did not get a chance to call out to him, however, once she was outside. The door closed by itself, and would not seem to re-admit anyone inside. She sighed and turned around, only to be faced by yet another mage.

"What is this?" she heard him say. "I was expecting Aribeth, not some wet-behind-the-ears adventurer."

Saria grew angry at the question, insulted by the comment. She ran forward with her staff and began battle with the mage. He endured a few blows, but eventually faded out with a transporting spell, leaving two goblins in his wake. Saria tried to stop him from fading completely out, but she had to settle for killing the goblins he left. After they were finished with, she followed Lady Aribeth's directions and went to the large double-doors that were otherwise locked. She removed the key from a pouch on her beltloop and placed it in the lock, turning it and moving the tumblers to grant her access inside. She entered the door and made her way through, slaying goblin after goblin until she finally came to a sort of small library.

Near the entrance, she saw a fatigued paladin leaning against a desk, sword drawn and fresh blood dripping from the blade. She walked up to him and, as her step proved itself heavier than the last, it made him jump with sword raised. Saria raised her hands in defense, not wanting him to attack hastily and accidentally kill her.

"Who…Saria?" the paladin asked.

"Are you alright? How do you know my name?" Saria asked in return.

"My name is Pavel. I…guess you don't remember me from the Senior Barracks. My brother and I…"

Saria recognized the name, but she couldn't quite say she _knew_ him. But at the mention of his brother, she noticed the paladin Pavel seemed to choke with his words.

"Pavel…?" Saria questioned. "Are you…alright?"

"Forgive me…" he sniffed. "I am still recovering from my brother's death…"

Saria gasped, taking long strides to his side. She gently took the sword from his hand with her slender one and put it on the desk, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"Sssh…say it when you are ready."

As Pavel went into the story about how he and his younger brother Bim had gotten into the Neverwinter Academy, he said that as the raid on the Academy began, he and his brother fought bravely side-by-side. His brother was preoccupied with an enemy and was not paying attention to any threat to his blind-side. As a result, a goblin stabbed him numerous times, tearing out bits and pieces of his innards as it brought the dagger so violently out of his body. Saria's eyes watered as she heard Bim's gruesome fall and Pavel's similar near-death occurrences.

"I have come close to death too many times in this place, Saria," he said, trying to hide the wavering in his voice.

"So I see," she said, looking around the room and seeing goblin corpses strewn around the room.

"Saria…let me come with you."

She blinked.

"Come with me…where?"

"Wherever! It's too dangerous to wander around this place alone now, although I see you could say otherwise," he said, noticing she was perfectly fine, aside from the tears in her tunic.

"No, I could honestly say the same thing," she replied. "But I would be glad of the company. After all, you look much too fatigued to go on any further without resting first."

Saria removed her arm from his shoulder and began to heal his wounds with her magic. The bluish glow from her hands transferred to Pavel's body, swirling around in a show of bright healing light. Pavel's wounds were mended easily, and his fatigue vanished with the light from the spell.

"Thank you."

"Of course. Now, let's get out of here, shall we?"

They made their way through the hallways, slaying goblins and skeletons alike. The spoils gained from each kill were separated equally. Any armor or items that one didn't want or couldn't use, the other got them instead. They made it to a large foyer-like room, with a statue in the middle. The statue was cracked and nearly demolished, and there was no hint of what the original sculpture was. Further back in the room, near a back door, was a sorcerer conjuring creatures to serve him as his minions. During the spellcasting, Saria noticed that his eyes were closed. She motioned to Pavel, and they slowly made their way towards him. The minute they got five feet away from him, the sorcerer's eyes snapped open from a conjuration and began throwing balls of magic at the two approaching him. Saria dodged the honing-in magic as Pavel ran up to attack. Saria used her ranged attacks such as Hold Person and Inflict Moderate Wounds. As she cast those two, she armed herself with her staff and ran in to help Pavel.

The sorcerer was easily slain with this strategy, and the remaining creatures were easy pickings after that. Pavel didn't want anything to do with the carcass of the dead sorcerer, so Saria decided to see what he had on him. As she also checked the crates for items, they decided to rest before going beyond the door. As they went through, they came to the stables that Lady Aribeth was so urgent to send Saria to.

Just as they entered the room, they heard a voice call out 'Kill the dryad!' and she looked over in time to see a beautiful blond nymph backing away with a frightened look.

"No! I must escape!" was her fear-filled cry.

Saria looked over to another creature to the right. Her clothing was completely black, matching her hair and just about everything else about her. Saria noticed, and she was drawing this from the memory of her textbooks, that the creature looked very similar to the dangerous Succubus. She saw the creature take on a defensive stance.

"My bonds are broken! I must escape this place!" it said with a hiss before vanishing from a ring of magic.

Another creature also vanished just as someone cried 'They've freed the yuan'ti!' that looked like the majority of its body mass was a _brain_. She shook her head, still registering what happened and ran forward to help Pavel, an elven cleric, and a human priest fight off a little hord of goblins. Once they were terminated, the elven cleric looked around frantically.

"Oh no…the creatures are lost…the Academy students slain! Oh, I fear we have come to late!"

Saria had to suppress a snicker from rising. _That tone reminds me of him so much_, she thought, hiding a grin behind her hand. As both of the men before her got into an argument, the human priest began referring to her as if she weren't in the room.

"Um, excuse me…" she said politely.

They still went at it.

"Excuse me…"

The two continued bickering.

"OY! I'M TRYING TO TALK HERE!"

All eyes were suddenly on the half-elf and she could feel the blood rising in her cheeks. She cleared her throat and began to explain that _she_ was the student that Lady Aribeth had sent. She was scoffed at immediately by the priest, but he was told off by the cleric and the argument _continued_.

"Very well, Fenthick," the priest said in a huff. "I will leave you and your lady love to clean up this mess."

And with that, the priest left with an arrogant stride.

The cleric turned to Saria with a pleading look in his eyes, and for a moment she was taken aback by how gentle his eyes were. Again she tried to suppress the blood in her cheeks.

"Please, you must forgive Desther. The Wailing Death weighs heavily on the Helmites. I'm Fenthick Moss, Priest of Tyr and companion of the Lady Aribeth. You must be the student she sent."

She curtsied low, finding herself in the presence of a priest of the just god. She was, however, somewhat disappointed in hearing he was the companion to Lady Aribeth.

"My name is Saria Cloudwalker, milord, and I was indeed sent here to aid however I could by the Lady Aribeth."

As they spoke about the happenings within the Academy, Fenthick seemed very pleased with Saria's performance and assistance during the raid.

"Well, Saria, by all accounts you are a capable woman. Would you be able to attend the Halls of Justice within the week? It is there that we will be talking about how to find a cure for the plague, and we need all the help we can get."

Saria curtsied again.

"I will be sure to attend in the week then, milord."

**00000000000000**

Okay, so it was kinda weird. I got such a horrible writer's block before, and it was so close to the beginning of the chapter. Anyway, this was kinda my best way of describing the prologue of the game. Don't be afraid to press the little blue button that says 'go'! The story REALLY begins in the next two chapters, so keep your eyes peeled.

Saria.


	5. Chapter 3

Okay, I don't know about you, but I _personally_ think I could have done better with going through that one part of the Academy. Eh, but that's just me. Anyway, here's the update that took so long! Although…it didn't take as long to update as it did for chapter 2…

I'M BAAAACK! I'm so glad to be home. Now I can present to you…Chaaaaapter 3! There will also be a new addition to the characters soon, but I can't tell you who at the moment! XD All I can say is she'll be appearing either during this chapter or the next.

I believe those are all the things I wanted to say…

ON WITH THE FIC!

**Chapter 3:**

**The Quest Begins**

A week had passed since that horrible raid on the Academy, and Saria kept her promise to Fenthick by arriving at the great stone building that held the Halls of Justice. Saria entered the building and she was told to enter the great halls via the infirmary. She was rather confused as to _why_ she had to go through the infirmary, but she did not go against the orders of those within. She made her way past the plague-stricken victims, their screams and moans of pain and agony echoing around her. Her soft hands turned rigid as they subconsciously gripped the staff she armed herself with, the lightly-tanned skin of her knuckles turning white.

Being a cleric and the type of person she was, she felt this overwhelming need to go to each bed and do whatever she could to help. But with the plague being contagious by prolonged physical or blood contact, she was also scared to death to go near any one of them. So, as a result, she could feel the familiar ache of depression and misery and she could feel tears coming on.

As her feet guided her swiftly to the next door, a woman lying in a bed she passed screamed at the top of her lungs in pain. Saria's almond-shaped eyes grew wider than they ever had in her life as she nearly jumped out of her skin, letting out a small cry of her own. At this point, she was quite tempted to run as fast as she could out of the infirmary to find Fenthick.

Saria passed through door after door and came to a larger room. It looked to be a lobby, but for all the space already taken up in the rather large infirmary there were more of the wounded located in here as well. In the center of the room were Fenthick and the priest Desther and a sigh of relief escaped her as she quickened her pace. The elf cleric was the first to take notice of the approaching footsteps and smiled when he saw the young half-elf woman.

"Saria! You are quick to answer the summons!"

His robes whisked behind him as he walked forward, the elf's face shining with delight.

"It is truly a delight to see you here!" he said as he, rather enthusiastically, shook her hand. Saria had to stiffen her body just to keep it from shaking so badly. When he finally released her hand, there were obvious red marks from his fingers. She rubbed her hand to restore blood flow as she bowed respectfully to the cleric in the service of the Just God.

"My lord Fenthick, a delight to see you as well," she said, hiding her sarcastic smirk with her bow.

Saria rose and caught sight of Desther and his scowl, her nose twitching in contempt towards the priest.

"Fenthick, what do you think you're doing, greeting this…inferior half-breed so freely?" he asked venomously, walking over briskly.

"Desther," she said through gritted teeth, nodding her head slightly.

He shot a malicious look that bore into Saria's eyes as he unfolded his arms.

"You _dare_ show ME lack of respect!" he hissed, his voice rising.

"Desther, please…" Fenthick said quietly. "We do not want to upset the patients being treated…"

"Then I shall require an apology, unless this whelp wants my voice to echo throughout this room," Desther replied, a sneer showing at Saria's ever-deepening glare.

Fenthick gave Saria and pleading glance, and Desther grinned even more. Saria's hand tightened around her staff, but she fought the impulse to strike the Helmite priest. The half-elf reluctantly swallowed her pride, bowing lower than she had to Fenthick.

"My apologies, milord," she said with quite a bit of effort. "Forgive my offense."

Desther's facial expression showed little emotion, but his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"I suppose I shall," he drawled, waving a hand and turning his back on the both of them.

Saria rose and saw Fenthick's shoulders droop. She snorted and muttered, "I wouldn't feel so sorry for him. He's just a pompous, old..." Fenthick's elven ears caught this and he turned his head with confusion and a bit of annoyance. Saria promptly shut her mouth and raised her eyebrows, raising her shoulders slightly and giving him a pleasant smile.

"Something amiss, milord Fenthick?" she asked lightly.

The elf cleric pursed his lips and looked between the two of them, but shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.

"Please, we must get to the matter at hand. Saria, you are to go to the next room where My Lady Aribeth awaits. She has been put in charge of organizing the search for the Waterdhavian creatures by Lord Nasher Alagondar, and she has requested that you see her immediately."

"We would not even be _looking_ for the Waterdhavian creatures had Aribeth not lost them so carelessly," Desther spat.

"Desther, she is not at fault," Fenthick said, trying to keep calm. "Someone found out and we suffered the consequences."

"Yes, and it was your lady love that had too much trust for her own good. _That_ is why the city is in shambles!"

"Do not speak of My Lady Aribeth in such a manner!" Fenthick retorted, now showing quite a fierce anger flashing behind his eyes. "I have been listening to you for the past _week_, saying nothing but how My Lady Aribeth is at fault for something she did not even DO! It's as if you're accusing her of starting the plague itself!"

Desther smirked.

"Perhaps she did…" Saria heard him mutter.

Saria gasped. To lay such an accusation upon Lady Aribeth…? She looked down at Fenthick's hands; they were clenched quite tightly and she let out a somewhat quiet whistle. To see Fenthick this angry was a rare sight indeed, and to invoke such anger from him meant something _quite_ offensive. And it was! Not only was Desther making an outrageous allegation, but he was making an outrageous allegation against Neverwinter's current _second-in-command_. Saria stepped forward and placed a hand on the elf's shoulder. Fenthick did not move, and she tightened her grip slightly. He looked over and saw Saria's concerned eyes. She smiled reassuredly.

"Do not let him get to you. We both know Lady Aribeth could have done no such thing," she whispered.

Fenthick sighed and looked over at Desther. By this time he had gone over to examine something quite interesting on a desk across the room. Saria grinned.

"See? The first sign of trouble and he goes running with his tail between his legs," she snickered.

Fenthick raised an eyebrow. "Trouble?"

"That temper of yours," she said with a grin. "I believe Lady Aribeth is expecting me. It was…quite an experience seeing you again, milord Fenthick."

Saria bowed and walked briskly to the door at the far end of the room. Before she opened it, she glanced over and saw Desther glaring at her from the corner of his eye. She snickered and a smirk was wide on her face.

"I'd love to see you do that again," she said mockingly. "Who knows? Maybe Fenthick will do us all a favor and kill you next time."

Before he could say anything Saria went through the door, giggling. Behind her, Fenthick was trying to hid a snicker with his hand. As Saria entered the Halls of Justice, she let out yet another sigh of relief.

"Oh finally…" she said with a smile that held a bit of fatigue.

"Saria! Over here!" Saria heard a female voice say.

It was an all-too-familiar one. Saria looked to her left and sure enough saw Lady Aribeth walking over, the clink of her chainmail boots echoing throughout the room. Saria made her way over to the elf paladin and bowed as they met.

"My Lady Aribeth," she said respectfully.

"Please, there is no need for formalities," Aribeth said.

Saria rose and asked, "Lady Aribeth, when you sent me to check on the Waterdhavian creatures, my…friend, Shade…Where is he? What happened to him?"

Aribeth shook her head.

"I do not know. When I turned around to tend to the others, he was gone."

Saria's shoulders drooped.

"Shade…I sure hope he's okay…" she whispered.

"I am sure he is safe. But right now, we must concentrate on the matter at hand."

A blush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks.

"Yes, of course! So, what exactly am I doing here?"

"As you know, the attack on the Academy was not just any attack."

Saria nodded. "Of course not. Everyone saw the assailants were either fixed on killing you or eliminating the Waterdhavians."

Aribeth blinked at such a blunt explanation, but accepted it. "Yes, and what we are trying to figure out is _why_. Our intelligence has gathered information on all the districts, and each one has given reports of strange creatures running about. Whether or not most of them are true is hard to say, and that is where I need you."

Saria grinned.

"You want me to scout out the districts?"

Aribeth nodded.

"Alrighty, I'll get to work straight away, Lady Aribeth!"

She smiled at Saria's enthusiasm, letting out a small, amused laugh.

"Very well, Saria Cloudwalker. I shall await your reports. However, you may want to consider hiring someone to accompany you. This task will not be an easy one."

Saria considered this, thinking about what trouble she might run into. Aribeth noticed this and decided to inform Saria of her first task.

"The most reports so far are those from the Peninsula district. Consequently enough, that is also where the Neverwinter Prison is, and there has been a massive outbreak of convicts in the area."

Saria gulped. Escaped prisoners? The worst criminals in all of Neverwinter were held within that facility, and them being loose would mean serious trouble _especially_ for a young half-elf cleric female. She knew she could hold her own, but it would only be a matter of time before she would be overrun by a pack of thugs; she was not about to make such a foolish decision about whether or not to hire a henchman.

"Can you tell me where to find someone who would do so?" she asked.

"There is an establishment called the Trade of Blades not far from here. Perhaps there you can get a good mercenary?"

Saria nodded. She'd heard of the Trade of Blades and how it had some of the best henchmen you could find. She thanked Aribeth, bowing again, and went on her way. Before she exited the Halls of Justice, she passed a halfling with red armor that looked a little eager as she went by him. She took a double-take and decided to talk to him. The first thing she noticed was his grin, how boyish it was.

"Why hullo there!" he said. "You have the smell of a prospective employer about you, m'lady. Or that may be the smell of all th' burnin' corpses in the city. Never seen this many flies outside a Calimshite alehouse…"

She giggled.

"Hello. My name is Saria Cloudwalker. Who might you be, sir?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"Me? Why I'm the infamous Tomi Undergallows! 'Grin' to me friends, 'Tomi Grin' to the lasses, and 'that damned halfling' to anyone in a position of respectable authority."

Saria let out a laugh this time.

"Well, Tomi Grin, what services could you offer me?"

"I can give you the help of my pick-pocketing and swordplay…for a fair price. How does 200 gold sound, m'lady?"

Saria took in a contemplative breath and thought of how much gold she had. Consequently enough, she only had a little more than 200, so she decided to haggle the price of his services.

"Well, that sounds a little much…can we say…150?"

Tomi thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"We meet in the middle for 175."

Saria smiled and held out her hand. "Welcome aboard, Tomi."

They shook on it and Saria handed over the gold. In return, Tomi gave her his contract and Saria pocketed it in her knapsack.

"Now, what exactly am I going to be doing, if ya don't mind me askin', m'lady?"

"Well, I'm searching for the Waterdhavian creatures. I'm in the service of the Lady Aribeth."

Tomi now had a wide grin.

"Ah, so not only a mission benefiting the city, but in the service of a cute elf. I hear ya."

Saria looked over to Tomi as they walked out.

"What about you? What's _your_ story Tomi?"

"Well m'lady, I hail most recently from Calimshan."

"Really? That sounds quite a far way to come. Why travel so far?"

"Reputation, I suppose, m'lady. Neverwinter seemed like a good place for an enterprising halfling like myself."

Saria nodded her head. "Okay, that's fine for me, but you said something about…a reputation?" She smiled. "I bet you got yourself into a mess and you decided to come here to save yourself, didn't you?"

Tomi scratched the back of his head.

"Heh, you steal from some rich guy with piggy lips, kiss his daughter, and suddenly you're the most wanted man in Calimshan."

Saria blinked.

"You got yourself into trouble for…kissing a girl?"

"Well, I use the term 'kissing' loosely, m'lady. She was set to marry the Pasha's son. As long as she was still a virgin…ah, well."

Saria giggled. "Okay, now I see where you're coming from."

His cheeks suddenly flushed and Saria clasped her slender hand on his shoulder. "Ah, don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

They made their way through the City Core, towards the Peninsula district gate. As they did, Saria filled Tomi in on the situation and what details she had been given. She was about to say something else when they passed a burning corpse pile and she inhaled the smoke by accident. The second she did she began to gag and her eyes began to water. She coughed violently and staggered over to a nearby wall to throw up. Tomi tried to help as best he could as Saria was leaning against the wall, spilling her insides out for a good five minutes before she felt safe enough to back away from the wall. She swayed, dizzy from the fumes and loss of whatever she had from the past two days, and wobbled away from where she deposited the brownish-gray matter that her body decided to rid itself of. Saria's knees felt like jelly, and she could feel herself ready to collapse.

Tomi took a hold of one of Saria's hands as he wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Tomi…" she whimpered.

"It's alright, I gotcha," he said as he led her to a small crate to sit her down.

As she steadied her shaking body and cleared her head, she looked at Tomi with a sad smile.

"Thank you…" she said quietly.

He smiled at her and nodded, saying, "I'm just glad you're okay now, m'lady."

Saria shook her head.

"Please don't feel you have to call me that."

"…what?"

"Just call me Saria, okay?"

Tomi nodded.

"Awright, Saria it is then."

Saria smiled. "Good. Let's get to the Peninsula, shall we?"

Tomi offered his hand, just in case she was still a little woozy. She took it, even though her head was clear and she was fine, and smiled in gratitude. They stood for a minute, but Saria felt a blush rising and let go of his hand. She took the lead and walked past the Moonstone Mask to the Peninsula District gate. She informed the guard there of her assistance to Lady Aribeth and he let her through.

And now the quest to save Neverwinter begins.

**0000000000**

Finally, this chapter is _done!_

So, what did you think? I spent the beginning of this week trying to get rid of two writer's blocks in a row, so it literally took me all week to finish this chapter. I hope the effort of pushing through my writer's blocks made for a good chapter for you guys. Press that pretty little blue button and tell me whatcha think!

Saria.


	6. Chapter 4

Alrighty, I finally have Chatper 4 for you guys! Now, about that new character I was telling you about…I still won't say anything, but I _will_ give you a hint. It has something to do with Kaia Moonchild, who has been helping me out from the beginning of this story. I won't say anymore cause you'll have to read the chapter to figure it out!

Now for another chapter for all you faithful readers. --huggle--

By the way, I am SO sorry I took so long to update. --runs from random flying instruments of death-- It took forever to get my laptop back for…um…rather _embarrassing_ reasons (ones that I won't go into detail to), and then I had _another_ freakin writer's block (that lasted way the hell too long). So here it is, the long-needed chapter 4! I hope it turns out okay… --sees readers with torches--

**Chapter 4:**

**The Peninsula and the New Ally**

Saria and Tomi went through the Peninsula District gate, ready for their first mission. However, when they got to the other side, they were stopped by the Gate Captain.

"You'll want to be careful, lass. There's been a prison break, and there's too many convicts on the streets."

Saria felt shivers going down her back about the second mentioning of these convicts. "Yes, so we've heard. How bad has it gotten exactly?"

"Well, it's been all we could do to suppress the waves of prisoners, but we've only managed to hold down this little barricade near the gate. There have been little skirmishes every now and then, but we can pick them off easily."

Saria nodded at the information.

"Are there any places that are still safe?"

"Yes, Sedos Sebile has her headquarters in the inner part of the district. Prisoners basically have her penned-in, but she's managed to hold them off. You'll find her in the southeast part of the district."

"Thank you," she said, shaking his hand.

"If you want to thank me, talk to Sedos Sebile. We sure could use your help in cleaning up the Head Gaoler's mess…"

Tomi smirked and glanced at Saria.

"Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us, eh?"

"I'll say."

Saria rested the shaft of her staff on her shoulder as they walked past the barricade. They found themselves in the middle of a rather large street center, with a slope up that led to the rest of the district. Ahead of them, Saria could see the looming silhouette in the distance that was the Neverwinter Prison. She remembered the bit of information that she was told.

"…_there has been a massive outbreak of convicts in the area…"_

She suppressed a sense of foreboding that had been growing in her stomach for a while now, trying not to think about how many prisoners were actually on the streets.

To top it all off, there was the familiar scent of burning corpses somewhere further in the district. Saria could feel her stomach churn again and she held her free hand over her mouth. Tomi saw her reaction and gave her a worried look.

"You gonna be alright, Saria?"

She nodded.

"I hope so," she said as she calmed the unrest in her insides.

They walked to the incline where two guards stood. Having seen Saria and Tomi clear the Gate Captain, they saluted and allowed them to pass. Saria nodded to them while Tomi snickered under his breath. When they got to the top of the incline, Tomi whispered to Saria.

"They look hilarious when they do that."

Saria smiled.

"Yeah, but they're doing their job."

Saria looked ahead in time to see a group of convicts not far from where they stood. They were lucky enough so far that they didn't even notice Saria and Tomi walking up the incline. It soon ran out, however, when a scruffy, no doubt underfed convict looked up and spotted the two. He grumbled something to the other four and they looked over. Saria's eyes grew wide as she saw that two of the prisoners were _huge_. She gulped and was about to tap Tomi on the shoulder, even though he'd already noticed the group. Almost automatically, clerical and offensive spells were running through her mind, deciding which ones she'd need the most.

She was thinking so rapidly that she didn't notice the prisoners walking towards them, their eyes fixed on the half-elf.

"Oi, looks like we got ourselves a pretty little lass, eh?" one of the convicts called out.

Tomi elbowed her.

"Saria, get your mind offa whatever you're thinkin' about an' get it together!" he whispered, taking out two daggers. "Whaddia you bums want, eh?" he called to the convicts.

Saria snapped out of it and readied her staff.

"Aw, nuthin'. We just want yer lady friend," another said, eyeing Saria.

Saria tightened the grip on her staff. She readied a spell in the back of her head so it would be easier to conjure it on the spot as she prepared herself for a close-combat fight. One of the bigger convicts ran up to her and Tomi first, with the thin one right behind him. Tomi went for the scrawny one, leaving Saria to the big thug. He loomed over her as he grinned.

"Hey there, lassy," he said. "What's a good-lookin' gal like you doin' in our part of town?"

Saria's eyes narrowed. When caught in times like these, so many situations played out in her head that she didn't know what to do. She ducked and leapt forward and to the right, where the thug just barely missed her. Before he had a chance to turn around, she cast Inflict Minor Wounds to his back and knocked him over. By this time, the guards noticed the situation going on behind them, but they simply stood there defensively should one of the criminals fall their way. Saria kicked the brute down the incline, where the guards took care of him. When she spun around, the wind was knocked out of her by a punch to the gut. She was slammed against the ground, her vision spinning as her head hit the pavement.

As she focused, she saw the other large thug had knocked her down, ready to kneel down over her. Her body was still aching from the impact, but she attempted to move anyway. It proved futile as the he pinned her down by her shoulders.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" he asked with a grin.

Saria's eyes widened in fear as she realized she couldn't move, no matter what she did. She moved her hands and tried to conjure Inflict Minor Wounds before he could do anything, but he had moved his hands down to her wrists to drag her arms above her head. She shut her eyes closed and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"TOMI!!"

A dagger flew through the air and landed with a 'thunk!' as it made contact with the thug's skull. His eyes were wide as his brain stopped functioning, leaning forward when his muscles could no longer support dead weight. As a result, he fell right on top of Saria, who was clearly mortified. As she came back to her senses, she wiggled her wrists out of the dead man's grip as she worked her way from under the body. She grabbed her staff from the ground and looked over to where Tomi was, seeing he was clearly preoccupied with two other thugs.

Something didn't quite click.

If he was busy fighting…who threw that dagger?

She now had an odd sense of relief and apprehension. She pushed it aside as she saw Tomi looking on the verge of collapse. She cast Heal Minor Wounds twice, restoring him to full health. She looked back to the carcass to inspect it. She gasped when she came to his cranium. She was surprised to find that the weapon that saved her was not a dagger, but a _sword_. More along the lines of a katana, to be precise. With the angle she was at, she couldn't quite see the full length of the blade when it first hit. The ornately-crafted hilt of the blade shone faintly, with a slight, whitish glow. She looked at it curiously, reaching for it. As she touched the hilt, a barrage of images ran across her mental vision.

A young girl with her father; small horns beginning growth atop her head; the same girl standing alongside two others, who looked identical to her; the girl standing with two blood-soaked swords; she arrived at a tavern, in search of her mother; a cruel woman standing over her, laughing as her daughter was violated; screams of horror; blood-red rage coursing through her veins; demon's blood…

Saria's eyes rolled back slightly as images invaded her mind. She dropped the hilt from her grasp, falling backwards on the ground. She clutched her chest and her head at the same time, trying to control the rapid beating of her heart. Her breathing slowed, and she finally regained herself. In her mind, that girl's screaming rang through her head, almost deafening. And this whole time, she was completely oblivious to her surroundings and was unaware of someone approaching her. She was brought back to reality when she heard Tomi's voice let out a cry of surprise. Her head snapped up and her eyes widened once more.

A young woman, looking slightly older than she, had run her sword through the belly of the final thug Tomi had been fighting. The sword was lit aflame as it burned the screaming person. The wielder's eyes narrowed as she flung him off her sword, wiping the convict's blood off the blade with her own hand. Saria looked closer at the weapon. The hilt was the exact same as the one on the sword which had killed the other thug. The only difference was this one looked more ominous, darker, and she could almost _swear_ she could see darkness resonating from it. Their savior looked in Saria's direction and she gasped.

It was…the exact same person she'd seen in all those pictures!

The young woman turned on her heel and walked straight for Saria, eyes glowing an eerie shade of red. Saria looked to the top of her head and saw more developed horns than the one's she'd seen in the images. She also took notice of semi-long pointed ears protruding from her locks and a flicking tail.

_Elf blood…and demon's blood combined?_ she thought. _That could only mean one thing…_

She remembered her studies at the Academy, and the species and races they were required to know. She took quite an interest in mixed species, and knew them all by heart.

_A fey'ri…_

By now, the young woman stood before her, peering down at the sitting cleric before her. Saria glanced up at the person standing before her, which she now noticed was entirely clothed in black. The young woman knelt down, sword still brandished, and reached to her left. Saria looked over and saw her yank it out of the dead man's skull. She winced as it was suddenly brought before her, the young woman's mouth twitching into a small grin. Saria looked up and saw the red glint was now gone, although she wasn't sure it had entirely vanished. Her mouth gaped at the newcomer, not sure what to say. She smiled at this.

"You're welcome," she said, sheathing her swords and offering her a hand.

Saria took her hand and got up.

"Um…thanks…" she said.

Tomi wasted absolutely NO time.

"Why hullo there!" he said with a big grin.

The young woman ignored him. She held her hand out to Saria. She took it with gratitude, offering a weak smile.

"Thank you very much for your help. You saved me from…"

She looked over to the dead thug and gulped.

"…from quite a rough spot. I am in your debt."

The young woman smiled.

"No problem. I'd hate to see anyone, including a half-elf, get hurt like that. What's your name?"

"Saria Cloudwalker."

Before she could answer, there came an 'ahem!' from beside them. Saria smiled sheepishly.

"And my friend here is Tomi Undergallows."

He stuck his hand out with a big smile.

"Pleased t' meetcha, m'lady!"

She smiled.

"Hey, shorty."

Tomi blinked, taken aback by the sarcastic greeting. Saria snickered behind her hand as the fey'ri grinned broadly. The young woman introduced herself as Majandra, and inquired why they were in the Peninsula District or how they even got past the guards. Saria explained her mission, and Majandra listened carefully. When she mentioned Aribeth, Majandra suddenly came to attention.

"Lady Aribeth, you say?" she asked.

"That's right."

Majandra smiled.

"We may have more in common than I thought. I'm on the same mission, as well, and I've known her for some time."

Saria blinked.

"Really? Hm…"

Majandra gave Saria a questioning look, as did Tomi.

"You okay?"

"Well…I was wondering…since we're working for the same cause, do you think we could work together?"

Majandra smiled again.

"You read my mind."

Saria beamed, happy to have another friend in her party. She armed herself with her staff as Tomi cleaned his dagger.

"So, Majandra, are we ready to tackle the Peninsula?" she asked the fey'ri.

Majandra unsheathed and swung both her swoards with grace, showing off her skill with her blades.

"Only when you are."

"Then let's go!"

**00000000**

Okay, what do you guys think? Again, I know I've been away for _way_ too long, and I've had an absolutely HORRIBLE writer's block around the end. But, now that you know who the special guest is (and this is aimed mainly at Kaia), what do you think? Those of you who've read Kaia's work, I'd like to hear from you, too. I gotta make sure I got her down right, because it's been so long that I've been online that I've forgotten some of the information about Majandra. Even now, I'm posting this at my school. So, press the Review button and tell me what you think. (CONSTRUCTIVE flames welcome)

…that's a bit of an oxymoron…constructive flames. --shrug--

Oh well. You get the idea.


	7. Chapter 5, Part 1

Awesome! Okay, when I posted chapter 4 I thought for _sure_ I'd get my ass handed to me by everyone because of the long wait, mainly by PP. But, thankfully, that's not the case at all! --happy to no end-- So, here we go with chapter 5! Yay! XD

By the way, I'm really happy about all the positive responses I've been getting from PP, Kaia and Faithless. You guys ROCK! X3

Disclaimer…do I really have to do it? And I'm posting this at my school again…(meaning still no internet on my laptop)

Okay, long awaited continuation…COMMENCING!

Chapter 5 for you all!

**Chapter 5, part 1:**

**Exploring the Peninsula**

Saria, Tomi, and their new-found friend Majandra, made their way through the Peninsula district and all the prisoners running amuck. As they sliced their way through the convicts, Saria noticed how particularly agile and strong their companion was. She wielded her swords with incredible speed, which nearly left her and Tomi next to nothing to kill. On the way, when they were not bombarded with hordes of prisoners, Majandra explained that her swords had names, both of which held an essence of her.

Rekkei-maru, she told them, embodied her more darker side. When Saria heard this, she remembered the ominous glow she saw around the dark blade when Majandra yanked it out of the dead thug's skull. Tekkei-maru, however, personified her good-natured, more sensible side. Saria considered this.

"So…if those are your lighter and darker sides…where does that leave you?" Saria asked.

"I'm basically in the middle. The spirits inside my blades can actually appear before me, their forms identical to my own body, but only I can see them."

"Sure," Saria agreed. "That makes sense. After all, they _are_ your personas. They're just…in the form of a deadly instrument."

Majandra laughed.

"That's right."

"So, m'lady, what kind of breed _are_ you exactly? If ya don't mind me askin," Tomi inquired. "I mean, it's not every day you meet someone with enchanted blades that has horns and a tail stickin' out of 'em."

Saria looked at Tomi with disbelief.

"You can't tell?"

"You can?" Majandra asked Saria in the same tone.

"Well, at the Neverwinter Academy I was one of the best at identifying and classifying numerous races and clans," Saria said, feeling a bit smug.

Majandra smirked.

"Is that so? Well then, miss Academy smart-ass, what race _am_ I?" she asked playfully.

"I'm guessing…fey'ri?"

Majandra's eyes widened.

"Damn, how the hell did you guess so easily?!"

Saria raised an eyebrow.

"Was that sarcasm or are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious! Not very many people can identify a fey'ri…even though it's not that hard…" she said, muttering the last comment.

"Well, like I said: I'm one of the best. In other words, I was a bit of a bookworm," Saria added sheepishly.

"I see," she said.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm no scholar," Saria said quickly, seeing a bit of hesitance in Majandra's eyes. "I just…"

"Studied way the hell more than everyone else?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Saria said, laughing.

The group came across a stately-looking manor near a wall of the district that overlooked the water below. Majandra and Saria looked at each other questioningly before turning their heads forward and going to the door. Tomi glanced between the two and rushed for them, keeping up. Saria tried the doorknob and found it locked.

"Hey Tomi, do you think you could pick this for us?" Saria asked.

"Eh, I don't think I could," he said after examining the lock. "It looks like there's some magical wards on 'ere. Ones I can't even touch, m'lady. Sorry."

"Let me have a look," Majandra offered, stepping towards the door.

As Majandra examined the lock, Saria began looking around. She looked down and saw the welcome mat. It was a plain one, but it was nice. She knelt down to see what texture it was, out of curiosity, but found a lump when she ran her hand over it. She blinked.

"Hey…I think I've found the key," she said, turning the mat over.

Sure enough, there was an ornate, silver key sitting on the cobblestone ground beneath the place mat. Saria took it and placed it in the lock. She smiled.

"No better way to break into a house than to use the proper key," she said.

"Oh? An' why's that, m'lady?" Tomi asked.

"I dunno. Better to go in unnoticed and unsuspected rather than having to bash something in and announce our arrival."

"Humph. With the district the way it is, I don't think there'll be anyone in there to announce _to_," Majandra snorted. "Either that or they just won't care."

"Huh?"

"Well, with prisoners everywhere, I'd imagine whoever lived here high-tailed it out. And by the look of the place, I'd say they'd have more than enough money to do it any way they liked."

Majandra looked the place over, then looked to the prison.

"My guess would be they're related to someone high-ranking working for the prison, considering the relative proximity between the establishments and the value of the home."

"Simply because they're relatives…?"

Tomi caught a glimpse of a gold plate near the door and called the females' attention to it.

" 'Tanglebrook Estate,' it says," Tomi read.

"Yep," Majandra said, nodding. "Lady Tanglebrook is the cousin to the Head Gaoler in the prison, if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you know all of this?" Saria asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Majandra grinned.

"I have my sources. C'mon, let's raid the place and see if we can find anything good."

The companions walked inside and found the furnishings of a modest but well-endowed home. It was, however, barren of all signs of recent life. Majandra probed the air with her own senses, Saria with her partial elf skills, and she tensed.

"We're not alone," Majandra growled, pulling out Rekkei-maru.

"No we are not," Saria agreed, pulling out her staff.

Tomi whipped out a dagger and stood before the two ladies.

"Well then, if there's trouble afoot, I can't let the women take the risk of scouting now can I?"

Saria smiled.

"Well, what a gentleman you are. However," she said, her face turning more serious, "Do be careful. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Aw, how sweet," Majandra cooed, looking to Saria with a mocking love-smile. "Saria cares about the halfling rogue. Oh, that's _so_ touching."

"Oh, stop," she retorted, smirking. "I just don't like seeing my friends in danger, is all."

Majandra smirked back.

"All right, I'll quit. Let's just raid the damn place and get out. I don't want to be in this district any more than necessary."

"Here, here."

All three walked forward cautiously, with Tomi in the lead. Almost immediately, Tomi spread both his arms and they stopped. He knelt down and examined the ground, untying trigger strings that would normally be overlooked by the average person. Within moments he was done disabling mechanisms and breaking down levers, throwing a pile of metal, string and acid pouches aside. Saria blinked.

"Wow, Tomi…I'm glad I brought you with me. I would have completely missed that trap."

Majandra nodded.

"Yes, I second that. I missed it, and my eyes are as sharp as a hawk's."

Tomi just shrugged and said, "No problem. Just doing my job, m'lady."

They walked further in the house, looking around cautiously. Majandra probed again with her senses and pointed to a back room with one of her blades.

"Back there," she growled.

Saria looked at her friend through peripheral vision and saw that Majandra's expression had changed, to the point where it worried her. Her face bore a slight, feral grin that showed intimidating fangs. Her stance became more offensive-looking, and she looked ready to pounce at any given moment. But what really troubled Saria was the look in her eyes. She realized, with a chill down her spine, that it was the same red gleam she'd seen when Majandra had been fighting the prisoners.

That same demonic, bloodthirsty gleam…

"What are we waiting for?" she asked in a husky, dangerously seducing voice.

Saria looked to the darker blade in Majandra's hand and noticed it was giving off a more ominous glow than what she'd seen while they were chopping down prisoners outside.

"_Rekkei-maru embodies my darker side…"_

If it really _did_ hold her darker side, and the skills she displayed before this moment were already deadly enough…she didn't even _want_ to think about what she was capable of when backed by Rekkei-maru.

"P-please," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "Lead the way."

Without saying a word, Majandra's supple body glided across the room; making no noise, she prowled across the room like a cat quietly stalking its prey. Saria could barely breathe, feeling the heavy, foreboding energy nearly suffocating her like smoke from a fire. The influence was so strong, in fact, she was sure she'd faint if she went any further. Her head felt light as a dull ringing sensation filled her ears. The next thing she knew, her staff clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees. The ringing was replaced by a subtle chorus of humming, growing louder as she began to lose consciousness. As she entered a feverish sense of mind, she could hear fragments of sentences fading in and out of her head.

"…_you are my instrument…my puppet…you cannot…fight me…"_

Saria's eyes looked frantically around, but all she could see was darkness. Her hands shook as she raised them to her face, covering it.

"No…no more…" she whimpered.

And then…darkness.

**0000000000**

So…what do you think? Pretty wild, huh? I thought I'd show Majandra's darker side in this chapter, even though it may seem like a waste to the people that know what's waiting for them in the foyer of the Tanglebrook Estate. I thought I did a fair job on portraying the first of the many upcoming mind-transfers of Majandra, but I wanna know what my readers think. Did I go into enough detail for a first-time deal? Any suggestions? If so, press that little 'Go' button and R&R!

Much love,

tf-fan


	8. Chapter 5, Part 2

Okay, I know that may have been a bit of an odd cliffhanger, but I thought it would make things interesting. Now the gang _finally_ gets into the prison and (oh goody) kill _more_ prisoners who don't have enough sense not to mess with a half-elf, a halfling, and a homicidal fey'ri. X3 Just kidding. Or am I? --shrugs-- If you find out, tell me cause I have no clue. XD XD

Ah, enough of my ramblings. You didn't click on this chapter just to hear me babble about pointless things, like me not owning anything from Bioware and Wizards of the Coast other than the make-up of my own character. (Majandra is sole property of Kaia Moonchild)

So! On with part two, eh?

**Chapter 5, part 2:**

**Tanglebrook's Entrance**

Saria woke up drowsily on the hard floor to the sight of Tomi kneeling over her, with Majandra standing over him. When her eyes focused and fixed on Majandra, she whimpered and scooted her body away from Tomi's aid.

"M'lady! You're awake!" he said happily at the sight of her movement.

"Tomi…Majandra…!" Saria stammered.

Majandra's relieved face turned to an apologetic one. She knelt down and looked Saria in the eyes.

"Saria, are you alright?" she asked in a serious tone.

Saria shuddered for a moment, then looked hard at Majandra. She noticed that the red gleam was gone, and the demonic presence had left…sort of. She sighed and nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. But…"

"What exactly just happened?" Tomi finished for her.

Majandra sighed.

"I…really…don't want to talk about it."

Saria studied the fey'ri's face and nodded.

"Okay, you don't have to say anything. For right now, we need to focus on our mission. How long was I out?"

"Eh…for quite a while, m'lady," Tomi replied.

"While you were in temporary comatose, I found a gate in the back room that may lead to the prison," Majandra told them. "I only went down a few steps and it was dark enough to drown out the torchlight behind me."

Tomi nodded.

"If it's a passage to the prison, I say we take it," he said. "I bet we could get to the source of all this ruckus sooner."

"And you've already been in Neverwinter's prison, haven't you?" Majandra asked, grinning.

"Oy! How'd you know that? Ah…no point in hidin' it," he said, scratching his head. "Aye. I've been in there meself."

"Then you could tell us where we are once we get inside?"

"Eh…not quite."

"Well, that's okay. I'm sure we could figure it out ourselves. Aren't there lower floors to the prison?" Saria asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, if anything were to go on in a prison, I'd imagine it would be in one of those lower levels. So maybe if we just fight our way through and keep going down, we should be able to figure it out sooner or later, right?"

"Saria…it won't be that easy," Majandra said, hesitance in her voice. "Remember, we're going in a _prison_, and the lower levels keep the more violent convicts holed up. Are you honestly willing to go down there? The ruffians we faced on the streets are _nothing_ compared to these guys."

"She has a point, m'lady."

Saria gulped. She could feel her nausea rising again, but she fought it down.

"Yes, but…we have a Stone of Recall, so we can use that if things get too out-of-hand."

"Still…" Tomi said, worried.

Majandra studied her appraisingly.

"Alright then. Once you're ready, we'll head down there."

She offered a hand and Saria took it, using Majandra's pull to hoist herself to her feet. The minute she did her head spun, and she nearly fell had Tomi not held onto her. Saria set her hand on his shoulder, steadying herself, before her head cleared enough to stand on her own. Once the dizzy spell passed, she looked to Majandra.

"Majandra…how many prisoners do you think are still running the prison?" she asked, almost not wanting to hear an answer.

"Oh, I couldn't be sure…but I _do_ know that if there are any in there, it would be the ones on the lower levels."

Saria became lightheaded again.

"Well, we won't get our mission done standing here. If you're ready, I'm wanting to cut through more of those bastards," Majandra said, grinning.

Saria nodded.

"Alright, I'm ready…I hope," she said, muttering the last comment.

Majandra walked briskly forward, while Saria and Tomi stayed behind. Tomi looked at her, still concerned.

"Saria, what are you thinking? You _do_ realize we may have to go all the way down-"

"Yes, Tomi, I know, but what choice do we have?" Saria strained, not wanting to think of the hordes they would face in the lower levels. "Our mission is to retrieve the creatures to be used to make the cure, first and foremost."

Tomi kept his eyes on her as she spoke.

"If duty requires me to go into places like this, then so be it. I don't like it one bit, but I have no choice."

Majandra suddenly stopped, turning around.

" 'Duty'? You're sounding more like a paladin than a cleric, Saria."

She blinked, realizing what she had just said. Her paces slowed to a stop and she hung her head, tears pricking her eyes.

"I…apologize. My…brother is a paladin, and…I miss him so much."

Majandra smiled. Tomi did the same, nudging her hand.

"I'm sure he's okay."

Saria nodded, keeping her face cast down. Majandra's smile stayed as she turned around to go around the corner to the next room. Saria, for some reason, couldn't move her legs. Memories of her family raced through her head, making her shut her eyes and clench her fist. Her reverie was broken when she felt a hand brush away escaped tears and opened her eyes to see Tomi's face and gentle eyes.

"You gonna be alright, Saria?" he asked softly.

She smiled, nodding.

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"Hey lovebirds, let's get a move on, eh?" came Majandra's joking tone.

They both looked forward, releasing each other and walking forward in embarrassment. They came to the wrought-iron door and Majandra pulled it down, the rusted creaking filling the whole of the estate. Before them was pitch blackness.

"Okay, let's go," Majandra said after a while.

"But it's completely dark down there! We won't be able to see a thing!" Saria protested.

"Not to worry. I have a talent for seeing in the dark. Besides, I think I can see some torches below, so it must not be _that_ dark," Majandra replied, keeping her eyes forward.

"If you say so…" Saria muttered, eyeing the dark passage warily.

"C'mon, follow me."

Saria and Tomi followed Majandra down the flight of stairs, using the walls as guides because of the intense darkness. Majandra looked back at them and Saria saw her eyes had acquired the same red gleam. Majandra saw the fright in Saria's eyes and grinned.

"It's okay, I won't go berserk. It's just so I can see in the dark, so you don't have to worry your pretty little head."

Saria made a face and Majandra laughed.

"Just keep moving."

When they finally got to the bottom of the flight of stairs, they were greeted with a large room. Thankfully, there were pillars that held torches so they could see. The air felt damp and heavy, signaling there was water around. Saria brought her hand from the wall and, when she scrunched it up, felt the squishing sensation of the mold growing around them.

"Eeew…" she whined, wiping her palm furiously on her tunic.

The companions looked around and saw that the majority of the floor space had a checkered pattern, with several statues of gargoyles that served as, what they assumed, pawn pieces. But what caught Saria's eye first was in the very middle of the floor: the still body of a dead woman. She let out a cry of alarm and ran forward. Tomi looked at the checkered floor and, three feet before her feet pounded past it, saw a trap set for one of the squares. His eyes grew wide and he called out to her.

"Saria, wait…!"

It was too late. Saria's foot landed directly in the center of a block and set off a flare of flames within the perimeter of the dark square, making her scream in pain. Tomi ran forward, avoiding other set traps, and caught her just as the flames died down; she was shaking, skin and clothes charred alike. Majandra came up not long after and brought out Tekkei-maru, holding the blade over Saria's body. The metal began glowing white as energies floated down from it. They drifted and caressed Saria's wounds, healing whatever they flowed over. Within moments, Saria's eyes were fluttering open as she moved an aching body. Majandra took Saria's upheld hand and hoisted her up, steadying her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I…think so. What hap…?"

"You ran carelessly forward into a minefield of traps, _that's_ what happened," Majandra scolded, releasing Saria's hand.

Saria hung her head and Majandra sighed.

"Just be more careful. We can't afford to go running mindlessly about and risking getting ourselves burnt to death."

"…sorry."

They turned their attention to what Saria had been so worried about: the dead woman. Her corpse was a gruesome sight. Her limbs were sprawled about in odd angles, as if she were trying to fight something and got herself broken in the process. Her face was etched in an eternal expression of horror as her glazed eyes looked into the realm of the dead. Around her was a wide pool of blood, which Saria realized she was stepping in. She squeaked and hopped out of it, trails of blood following the jump of the boots that were attached to the puddle. Towards the female corpse's head, straw-like hair was matted and attached to the blood beneath. The stench of the corpse had already begun, mixing the smell of rotting flesh with the smell of dampness that floated about them. Next to the companions, sitting in the pool of blood, was a double-edged sword. Majandra picked it up, grinning, and shook off the blood that flew off in specks. Several got on Saria, which made her cringe.

"Do you _mind_?" Saria asked irritably. "Show some respect, will you? That is a _dead woman's_ weapon."

"And it's nice."

Saria made a disapproving face, but Majandra ignored it. She looked the body over, a contemplative silence coming from her.

"Do you guys see anything…_odd_ about this death?" she asked, kneeling down.

"Other than the fact that the hag probably slipped and broke her back from all this blasted mold, no. Why?" Tomi asked.

"No…there aren't any open wounds. If she'd broken her back, she would have just laid here and would probably still be alive and just be in a lot of pain. No…something happened…perhaps…"

A thought came to Majandra and she swallowed a bit of saliva that had come up from worry. She reached over and took hold of the woman's body, turning her on her front. Saria gasped, her eyes threatening to pop out of her sockets at the fact her friend was handling a dead person. Once Majandra had the body turned, she examined the back of the body. Then her hand moved to the woman's head, wiping away bloodstained hair.

Saria gasped, holding a hand to her mouth and turning away. Majandra couldn't blame her.

From the dead woman's skull, Majandra realized the cause of death: a gaping hole at least six inches in diameter. Majandra noticed something else…the brain was missing. She got up shakily from the body, her hands rigid as blood slowly dripped down her fingertips.

"This was no ordinary death…" she said finally, her voice low.

"You think?" Saria shrieked, finding her ability to speak.

"What…what creature did Aribeth say we were looking for again? In this district?"

"The Intellect Devourer. Why?" Tomi answered, seeing Saria turn away again at the sight of the gap in the woman's skull.

"And this…is no ordinary woman…This is Lady Tanglebrook."

Majandra wiped her hand and shoved it into her knapsack to filch for something. She finally brought out a ledger and opened it, flipping through the pages. Saria turned about again and, fighting her eyes' impulse to drift back to that corpse, watched Majandra look frantically for something in the leather-bound text. Majandra's hand slammed on a page as she went 'Aha!' and turned to them. She pointed to an entry and Saria and Tomi edged closer to read.

"I found this while Saria was out. It says, '_Today I will visit my cousin. With the stress of the Wailing pressing down on the city, I am sure he will need all the comfort he can get. I am glad he had my secret tunnel built. It allows me to go to and from his office without being detected. I am worried for him. His office is directly above The Pits, which I can only imagine the atrocities commited to the prisoners are nothing short of horrific. I have also heard about the devourer creature, or some such, that has been released into our streets. While I am not entirely worried, I will bring something with me should the occasion that I must protect myself rise._' " she quoted.

"So _that's_ what happened…" Tomi muttered.

Saria looked horrified.

"So you're telling me that this Intellect Devourer actually eats _brains_?" she whimpered.

"Probably to get its strength up," Majandra mused, placing the book back into her knapsack. "In any case, we now have an idea what we're up against. We need to get a move-on. It now makes sense what's going on in this district, don't you think?"

Saria blinked.

"Actually…no. If _this_ was going on in the districts, then I'm sure there would be plenty more people dead with their brains missing."

"Okay, think about this for a minute," Majandra said. "What is the Intellect Devourer primarily made up of?"

"Brain."

"Exactly. And he needs _brains_ to feed into his own. Think. For every brain he eats, he absorbs the _intellect_ from that brain. It's also a creature from a different plane. A creature from another plane means powerful outer-plane powers to those in this realm. Combine the intellect absorbed and the powers from its home realm, what do you get?"

"A…powerful brain?"

"Worse. A brain with mind-control abilities. Those of weak will are especially vulnerable to an Intellect Devourer. It takes over your body and, at the same time, feeds off of your brain until you're a mindless shell. And…wait. Aren't _you_ supposed to be the Academy smart-ass?"

"Erm…if you want to call me that. I'd learned about the Intellect Devourer, but I didn't know anything past the fact it was a huge brain that could possess the power of mind-control. Anyway, what does that have to do with Lady Tanglebrook here? It doesn't seem like she was put under mind control," Saria said.

"She put up a fight, and paid with her life."

Saria then turned her gaze to the corpse and kept it there and a scary thought came to mind. She and her friends would not only have to face who knows how many prisoners, but now a creature who could control you and then eat your brain? Her train of thought was broken by the leather-gloved hand of Majandra waving in her face.

"Hey, are you going to be alright?" she asked.

"Um…yeah, I should be."

"I hope so, because your face could say otherwise."

Her eyes locked with Majandra's, and Saria saw her comforting gaze. Saria nodded.

"Yes. I'll be fine. I just hope we get to the bottom of this soon. I don't want to have to deal with this district or the prison any more than we have to."

"There we go! That sounds more like it," Majandra encouraged, patting Saria on the back.

"But…what are you going to do with the sword?"

"Keep it, what else?"

Saria had another disapproving look, but said nothing. Before they began to move again, there was a hissing sound and they looked beyond the chessboard. From what they could see from the torchlight, across the bridge ahead, there were several monstrous spiders milling about. One of them had caught Majandra's scent and all eight legs spun it around as it faced directly at them. The other spiders must have caught on, because they did the same. There was a collective hiss from all of them as they swarmed forward.

"Get ready!" Majandra warned, whipping out Rekkei-maru and Tekkei-maru.

The fey'ri burst forward and began cutting through the spiders, with Tomi right behind her. Saria armed herself with her staff, holding it in front of her, closing her eyes and chanting. Her staff began to glow as her chanting continued, finally holding up her staff and swinging it in the direction of the spiders, sending the light with it. It hit the spiders dead-on, making one of them keel over and another hiss in pain. Majandra let out a feral growl as she continued to slice-and-dice, assuming a more wild stance as she continued to fight. Saria could feel the evil energy fill the room, but she focused on concentrating and successfully sent another spell at the spiders. It killed another, leaving only one left. Tomi and Majandra finished it off, but the danger had not passed yet.

Majandra's arms fell to her sides, hands still gripping her blades. Her tail flicked side-to-side sharply, indicating she was still in kill mode. Her head slowly turned to Saria and, as her dark blue hair fell across her back and around her horns, she could barely move. Majandra's face had become distorted in a way that her animalistic grin had become wider than a normal mouth's limits would allow. Her fangs were sharper and her eyes had become mere horizontal, blackened slits. Majandra's mouth opened, but the only sound that came out was an odd croaking that sent chills up and down her spine and prevented mobility. A forked tongue flicked out as the croaking continued, her eyes boring into Saria's very soul.

Inside her mind, Saria heard a malevolent voice taunting her.

"_Saria, I warn you now I am not one to be toyed with. Majandra is my puppet, and I will not have the control over Majandra's free will jeopardized. You _will_ keep your distance, or face the final days of your life. You chose."_

Saria sunk down to the ground as her head hung, holding her head with her hands.

"Get…out of my head."

Tomi looked to his side and saw that Majandra had gone back to normal, but was holding her head as well. He got them to their senses and through the other door, the one that led to the prison. They finally made their way in.

**00000000000**

Yes! Finally! I am _done_!! It took me over a frikin week to get through this thing. So, R&R and tell me whatcha think! Btw, Majandra had a second outburst, but it was actually Rekkei-maru that made direct mental contact. Whaddidya think of _that_? Did I describe it as well as the first time Majandra got taken over?

Much lurve(X3),

Saria


	9. Chapter 6

Woot! Finally, after a week of waiting you got part 2. And, after Lord knows how long, you're getting chapter 6 (btw, sorry about the wait. It took forever to find my laptop. And, to top it off, yet another one of my infamous writer's blocks AND no internet access all damn summer. Both the writer's block and no access during the tail-end of the past school year, as well.gags). Now, how the hell am I gonna write about _in_ the prison… --ponders-- Hm…Anywho, I'll do it somehow. In any case, I hope you'll enjoy it just like you have the previous chapters!

Chapter 6 begins…wait for it…yes! No, wait…NOW!

X3

**Chapter 6:**

**Enter the Prison**

Saria, Majandra, and Tomi opened a second metal gate and walked up another flight of steps. It began to get darker at first, being that the walls lacked proper lighting, but light eventually made its way back into sight as they neared the top of the stairwell. They came to a short hallway that veered to the right and lead to a closed door. Around them was plain stone walls and tile flooring, with torches accenting the small spaces that were carved into the walls.

"This must be where Lady Tanglebrook came to visit the Head Gaoler before she was assassinated," Majandra mused, taking out the leather-bound journal and flipping through it again. "If it is, then this door is connected to the Gaoler's main office. Or…what _used_ to be his office."

Saria nodded.

"No doubt the prisoners must have gotten in there already and trashed the place," she said in agreement.

"Well, ready to face more prisoners, m'lady?" Tomi asked.

"I really don't have much choice, now do I?" Saria asked with a sarcastic grin. "I wouldn't be here otherwise. We can't forget our mission, after all."

"There you go with that mission talk again," Majandra sighed, stashing the journal away. "Are you sure you're not a paladin?"

Saria remained silent, but smiled at her friend's remark as she walked past and towards the door.

"Come on, we'll never get anything accomplished if we sit here jabber-jawing."

She turned to them both with a grin.

"Shall we get started?"

Majandra flashed a wicked smile as she walked forward to meet Saria.

"Let the slaughter begin, eh? I'm up for more bloodshed. Besides, these prisoners have had it coming to them for a while now."

Majandra whipped out Rekkei and Tekkei with a metallic song and held them ready.

"Let's kick some ass," she hissed.

Saria opened the door and the first thing she noticed was the stench that rushed out. She gripped her nose as she walked in with her staff at the ready. Inside the office mingled at least a dozen unkempt, rag-wearing prisoners making a mess of things. They heard the door open and they turned around, letting out a cry of anger and swarming the doorway. Saria took her hand away from her nose as she followed Majandra at a sprint to hack the hoard of prisoners to size. Tomi followed close behind, and soon they made quick work of the pathetic criminals. As the last one fell with a gurgle, blood dripping from his mouth, Saria walked past to the eastern wall where two chests and a desk sat. Trying the locks on the two chests, she found them locked.

"I'm on it, m'lady," Tomi said, walking over.

He sprinted over and got out a set of lockpicks, sticking a few into the keyhole of the first chest and going to work. After a short period of time, a click was heard and Tomi grinned, going over to the second one as Saria pilfered through the first chest. When he got the second chest opened, he, Saria, and Majandra looked inside to see what they could find. Majandra stepped back and shrugged.

"Eh, not much, but it'll fetch some gold," she said as she pocketed a few spell scrolls.

"Yeah. I don't think we'll find anythin' good until we get further down," Tomi agreed.

Saria's face paled slightly at the prospect of attempting to survive the sub-levels. Majandra caught a glimpse of the expression, frowned, and nudged Tomi's shoulder. He caught the message and muttered a quiet 'oh…' while shuffling his feet.

"Eh…sorry, m'lady," he said sheepishly.

Saria turned to them with a meek smile on her face.

"Oh, no worries. It just seems like I'll have to get over that fact and face it, now won't I?"

While Saria tried to make light of the situation, her comment just seemed to make Tomi feel worse about mentioning it. She and Majandra both saw the look on his face and Saria pursed her lips, thinking. Not able to think of any cheering comments for him, Saria sighed sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Tomi. I didn't mean to make it sound so bad. It was just bad timing when I said that, I suppose."

He shuffled his feet again and she wondered whether or not he would respond, making _her_ feel worse about saying what she said. Majandra looked between the two, sighed, and threw her hands up.

"Can we _please_ stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get a _move-on?_ I mean, really. YOU'RE the one who's always talking about our 'mission,' " she accused, jabbing a finger in the air at Saria. "So why don't _you_ snap out of it first, eh?"

Saria flinched.

"And YOU," she said, wheeling on Tomi. "Isn't it _your_ job to try to cheer her up?"

"Um…actually," Saria mumbled, skiddish about interrupting Majandra's rant, "it's not."

"But I do it anyway," came Tomi's voice.

At this, Saria smiled.

"Oh…_great!_ This is just great!" Majandra groaned, throwing up her hands. "Now we need a love scene."

Tomi and Saria both flinched and grinned at the same time. Unfortunately for them, Majandra caught it and snapped...

"Oh, okay, I see how this is. Alright, MOVE IT!!"

Saria's and Tomi's eyes both grew wide as Majandra began waving Rekkei and Tekkei at them, sprinting away from her. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Saria began to laugh hysterically. In her mind, she was now making a game of keep-away of it. She taunted and teased Majandra playfully, prancing about and dodging the blades. But in all the fun and folly, she never took notice of a familiar red gleam growing intensely in Majandra's eyes. Tomi did, and took action.

"Whoa, okay! Saria, time to stop messing around now!" he said, dragging Saria away by the arm.

"Aw, but wh-?"

Tomi yanked her down by the hand just as a blade swung through where her head would have been. Stumbling away, Saria looked over and saw the reason Tomi was so anxious to get her away. Majandra's eyes squinted to black slits of anger as red gleamed through them, and her tail flicked viciously. Her hands gripped the hilts of her swords tightly, legs positioned to spring her in the air at a moment's notice. From her throat came a feral growl, deep and menacing.

"I'm not playing," she snarled, bearing fangs at Saria.

Tomi eyed Majandra carefully, staying close to Saria as he inched his hand to his belt where a dagger hung ready. Saria nor Majandra moved, and neither broke eye contact. After what seemed a long while, Majandra swung her swords in a circle and sheathed them, walking forward slowly. When she got up to Saria, she gripped her face with one hand and brought their faces close.

"I'll warn you one more time, half-elf. I'm not messing around with you," she hissed. "If you ever dare get in my way again, I'll kill you. Do you understand?"

Saria whimpered, nodding as best she could through the iron-tight grip Majandra, or rather Rekkei, had on her face.

"Oh, and don't think I didn't see you going for your dagger, little halfling," she said, glancing at Tomi. "Be thankful I let you get that far."

She let go of Saria's face and walked away. Saria looked down and saw that Tomi's hand was almost at the hilt. Three more inches and he would have had it. Tomi's eyes glared through Majandra's back as he lowered his hand to his side. He looked to Saria with a mix of concern and perplexion.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so," she said, rubbing her face gently to ease the sharp soreness left by Majandra.

_Well, I certainly won't do _that_ again,_ she thought wryly.

Saria looked around and felt the evil presence ebbing away, and she looked to Majandra. She seemed to be fine, examining the room for any more spoils left by the prisoners or otherwise. She started to go forward, but a hand on her arm stopped her. She looked to Tomi and he, without looking at her, stepped forward to see if Majandra was truly back to normal. Majandra turned and Saria saw no sign of the gleaming eyes of Rekkei. She inwardly sighed of relief and followed behind Tomi.

Confirming stability among themselves, they continued their journey ever downward through the prison. After clearing the first level, they came down to the second one. An elf guard, who looked very anxious to get out of the hall, ushered them into a lock-down cell. After getting inside, he placed his crossbow on the ground and pulled a large wooden lever, which put locks into place and secured the area.

"Wh-what's going on?" Saria asked nervously.

Majandra whipped out a dagger.

"Are you friend or foe?"

He raised his hands defensively.

"I am…well, _was_ a guard here. It's amazing you were able to get this far."

Majandra eyed him suspiciously, and Saria placed a hand on her arm.

"Alright," she said to the guard, "then what's going on here? Why do we have to be locked up like this?"

He answered as Majandra put her dagger away.

"This is the second prison floor, a sort of buffer level between the upper level and The Pits."

"The…second floor? How many floors are there?" Majandra asked.

"Four. The top two, including this one, are the prison proper. The Pits is where you're headed, if you're wanting to go down further."

"The Pits? Oh, I've heard of those…" Tomi said, shuddering.

"The Pits?" Majandra and Saria asked at the same time.

"It's where they keep the more…erm, _rough_ prisoners holed up," he said hesitantly, watching Saria's face pale. "I'll tell you one thing, you won't find cells like these down there. Those cells are what the prisoners built themselves, and what they do down there is their own business…"

Saria suddenly felt extremely light-headed. Majandra noticed this and thought for a moment. She looked at the guard with the same contemplative stare.

"Are you the only former guard alive?"

"I wouldn't know. I _do_ know that whatever guards are or were alive are more than likely getting tortured or killed."

"Are there any supplies left that the prisoners haven't already exhausted?"

"If there are, they would be in storerooms on the northern and southern walls of this level. I can give you the layout of this floor, if that helps."

"It certainly would," Majandra responded.

"Alright. We are currently western side of this floor. The entire hall goes around in a square-shaped loop, with cells on the northern and southern inner walls. In the very center of this level is a room where guards would meet and change shifts. The prisoners are using that room as their central command, and it's from there that they send patrol skirmishes. I've managed to kill off a few, and thankfully they haven't noticed. You might want to be careful of that area, though. If I'm not mistaken, there's a magician in there somewhere. The eastern side has a stairwell that leads directly down to the first floor of The Pits. Whatever you do, I have one thing to say: be _very_ cautious, wherever you go. These convicts aren't kidding around, and would just as quickly kill one of their own at first glance or the minute one of them shows disloyalty as they would you. If you could somehow bypass one of their patrols, or just outrun them, you could easily get to the stairwell and they wouldn't follow you. They may be rough, but they're not so stupid as to follow to The Pits."

Majandra, Tomi and Saria paid close attention at the information he provided. Majandra nodded and uncrossed her arms.

"Alright then, we'll see what we can do. You stay here where it's safe."

"I intend to. Oh, by the way: if you can get into one of these lock-down cells, you can close the door, pull the lever and you'll be safe. These doors are virtually impenetrable. It's how I've been able to stay alive and pick off the prisoners all this time."

Saria nodded.

"Good," she muttered.

"Once you leave, I'm barricading the door behind you," the guard warned. "So the next cell you find will have to be your own. I can't afford to risk my safety any more than I have already."

"Fair enough," Majandra agreed. "We'll probably kill all the prisoners on this level, anyway."

The guard snorted.

"That's very…confident of you. I hope you can live long enough to carry it through."

"We've lived this long, and we have Majandra on our side. I'd say that evens the odds a bit," Tomi said.

"If…you don't mind my asking, what makes you so sure you'll live with her at your aid?" the guard asked carefully.

Majandra's expression changed and she grinned at the guard. He gasped at the sight of her unusually long fangs and recently-noticed horns and tail.

"Because anyone who isn't scared to death on sight will be chopped up and thrown into the river as fish food, or used as provisions for our party."

Tomi looked shocked, Saria was clearly disgusted, and the guard nearly fainted on the spot.

"If there are any doubts you have, I'd like to know so I can clarify them. If not, I'd like to continue on our quest. Any questions?"

All three shook their heads.

"Good, then we'll be on our way. If you would, please."

Majandra gestured to the lock and the guard jumped to the task. Majandra, Tomi and Saria filed out, and, as the guard said, the door closed behind them. When they heard the lock go into place, Saria looked slowly to Majandra.

"Majandra…did you mean what you said in there?" Saria asked weakly, feeling queasy at the idea of eating chopped human flesh.

The fey'ri laughed, and she had to control herself to not draw attention to their area.

"Of course not. I was just being sarcastic. I felt like being a smart-ass, so I said what I said to scare the hell out of him and make him think I'm psychotic…which I'm not, by the way," she said, eyeing Tomi's expression.

"That, my lady, is a matter of opinion," he said with a snort.

Saria giggled.

"I'm staying out of this one," she half-muttered, finding slight amusement in Majandra's glare. She remembered what happened the last time she'd laughed at Majandra's expense and it silenced her.

"Moving on," Majandra said flatly. "We need to clear this floor and get to The Pits. Unless there's some other way, the only logical thing to do to stay alive is to kill the others first. What say you?"

There was agreement all around the group. So it was decided: they would fight, as best they could, through the ranks of prisoners and make their way to The Pits. As they first began their trek around the floor, they noticed the circular cells the guard was talking about. They saw molding straw in some, and corpses of either guards or prisoners who didn't survive in others. When they passed a cell with a corpse, Saria had to cover her nose for the rancid stench that floated around them. It bothered Tomi a little, making him wrinkle his nose a bit and make a face; it hardly seemed to bother Majandra at all.

They suddenly heard gruff voices ahead and the group fell quiet. Edging closer, they heard it was a group of thugs that were just milling around and not making a patrol. Majandra held Tekkei at the ready as Tomi inched out a dagger and Saria held her staff close. Majandra inched forward, ahead of Tomi and Saria, almost to the point where if she misplaced a step she'd be in plain view of whoever was in the corridor.

This worried Saria.

With knowing the fact that the prisoners got worse the further down you went, it made Saria concerned about the welfare of her companions when dealing with these particular situations. She knew she was overreacting, but she knew she couldn't help herself. Because of their current situation, however, she forced herself to stop and let Majandra do one of the things she did best: scouting.

Then, without warning, she leapt forward with no sound. Saria groaned and sprinted after her, preparing herself for battle as she listened to the startled cries of shock. Tomi was close behind her, ready to fight. Because the element of surprise was on their side, the battle was easily won. However, it was the only chance of surprise they would get. All three of them knew that the cries were heard throughout the level and would no doubt put all the prisoners on high alert. When Saria brought this up to Majandra, she merely smiled.

"It doesn't matter," she said, clasping a hand on Saria's shoulder. "They're going to die anyway. What's wrong with putting a little fear in them, for fun's sake?"

"_Fun?_" Saria asked in disbelief. "What makes killing a bunch of people _fun?_"

"Easy," she said, shrugging. "When they deserve it."

Majandra walked off with a justified air, and Saria looked on in disbelief. Tomi scooted closer to Saria and motioned for her to listen.

"Personally, m'lady, I think she does it for sport," he whispered.

"I _heard_ that, halfling!" Majandra said, annoyed.

"Am I wrong?" he asked with a bit of a challenging note in his voice.

"...for the most part," she said quietly.

This reaction shocked Tomi, and he received a chiding glance from Saria. His mouth gaped, shut, and he looked back to Majandra.

"Did I…miss something?" he asked quietly, making sure Majandra wouldn't hear him while waiting at the corner of the hall.

"It was insensitive, Tomi, and it hurt," Saria confirmed. "From her reaction, it's an old emotional wound. Remember, Tomi, she doesn't always have control over how she acts in those kinds of situations."

"I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Maybe not, but the fact is it affected her. Not now, because we have to focus on our mission, but when we get a free moment, apologize. You may not think you did anything wrong, but I'm sure it would mean a lot if you apologized anyway. If you're sincere enough, she might explain to you why it upset her so badly."

Saria walked forward and she placed a hand on Majandra's shoulder. Tomi watched as Majandra looked over, and Saria gave the fey'ri a hug. Majandra accepted it, hugging Saria back tighter. Saria said something and, whatever it was, Majandra looked back at Tomi. She glared for a moment, but it vanished as Saria said something else to her. After a while, Saria beckoned to Tomi and he walked forward. To his surprise, both Saria and Majandra wrapped their arms around his neck and they walked down the corridor together. He didn't complain, though, even if it _did_ confuse him. They kept walking through the hallways, killing bandits and prisoners alike. In the storerooms that the guard informed them about, they found that the prisoners were still making decisions on who got what. They disposed of them quickly and split the spoils evenly.

They finally made it through the buffer level, and it was time to go to the first level of the Pits. When they got to the stairwell, Saria suddenly froze.

"I…I don't know if I can do this," she said shakily.

Majandra looked back at her and pursed her lips.

"Yes you can, Saria. If anything happens, we're in this together anyway. Come on," she said, holding out her hand.

Saria shook her head violently.

"No I can't. I thought I could, but I can't! Didn't you hear what that guard said? It just gets worse from here on in!"

"Yes, and you knew this even before the guard said anything. You said so yourself that we had no choice but to push forward."

Saria's bottom lip quivered.

"But that was before I really thought about it!"

She knelt down and wrapped her arms around her knees. She said nothing, but she kept staring at the stairwell that led down, and listened to the screams and yells coming from the lower level. Majandra looked between Saria and the stairs and she sighed.

"Do something about her, because we need to get a move-on," she said, waving between Tomi and Saria. "We've come this far, and I really don't want to waste any more time."

Tomi looked thoughtfully at Saria for a moment, then said to Majandra, "Well, maybe she just needs a bit of a break?"

Majandra turned, a questioning look on her face.

"I mean, the only thing that we've been around for three days now is prisoners and a stinking jailhouse. I don't think it would hurt if we went back to the Core. Whaddia say, m'lady?"

He knelt down with Saria and put a hand on her back.

"I think you could use a breather from all this, aye?"

Saria nodded slowly.

"Yes, please," she said quietly.

Majandra looked at Saria for a moment, then nodded.

"Hm, I agree. I could use some fresh air myself. Where's the Stone of Recall?"

Saria offered her knapsack to Majandra and she brought out the milky-white stone. They all placed a hand on its smooth surface and almost immediately there was a glow from within the stone. They all saw the Temple of Tyr in the City Core in their mind's eye and felt themselves being pulled, almost into the stone, before opening their eyes and seeing the familiar pillars of the temple. Majandra placed the Stone of Recall back into Saria's knapsack and handed it back to her. Saria took in a slow breath and smiled.

"Much better," she said to herself.

"I agree," Majandra said, doing the same.

"There, y'see?" Tomi asked. "That's all we needed was a break from that rotting hellhouse. Now, whaddia say we drop by the Moonstone Mask for a drink, aye?"

Saria giggled.

"You and your drinks, Tomi," she said, shaking her head.

He grinned, and Saria found her face becoming warm.

"I think we all could use one, but I want to get rid of some of these items before we do that," Majandra said. "I'd like to go in there with a bit more gold than I have."

Saria nodded.

"Okay."

"I'll wait for ya, then," Tomi said, walking over to the door.

"Why?" Saria asked.

"Well I wouldn't be a proper escort if I just left you ladies to make your way through the streets on your own, now would I?"

"But you're Saria's henchman, not her escort. Unless, of course, you're hiding something," Majandra said with a smirk.

Tomi flushed, turned, and leaned on a pillar with his back facing them. Majandra looked from him to Saria and grinned, turned, and said nothing. Saria felt her face become warmer, but followed Majandra to Lady Aribeth to sell excess supplies for gold.

**000000000000**

Alright, now that I'm (finally) done with this chapter… -dodges random flying crap- Hey! I said I was sorry, okay? My internet was taken away and hasn't been given back since cause my mom is a…well, she doesn't let go of things that happen, and is a pain in the backside for doing it. Anyway, now that school has started, I'm going to make it a point to get as much updating as I possibly can to make up for lost time. Which, in this case, I'm hoping to get at least into the second (maybe third) chapter of the original storyline by the end of the school year.

Again, I apologize for the immensely long wait to those who kept up with this story. I will absolutely try my hardest to make up for lost time and update as much as possible so you can enjoy more of this story!

Much love to you all,

Saria


	10. Chapter 7

Okay, not many reviews yet. Course, then again…I can't quite blame you. I've been missing for nigh on three-and-a-half months. So it looks like I have to start posting whether I get reviews or not. shrugs That's no problem. That just means more for you to read!

Then again, I did see on Faithless Shadow's profile something about National Novel Month, so that may have something to do with it also. Well, I'm going to keep to my promise and update as fast as humanly possible. I think that's fair, considering how long I've been gone. I've missed my story, and I've missed all of my reviewers. So, on with the story…

And, just so you know, I do NOT own NWN.

Wouldn't be here if I did. (well, maybe I would. There's nothing wrong with executives of a cool game writing stories about their own stuff! )

It's the property of Bioware Corp and Wizards of the Coast…I just make cool stories! Majandra is the sole property of Kaia Moonchild, and Saria is the sole property of me.

**Chapter 7:**

**Drinks at the Mask**

When Majandra and Saria were done, they walked up to Tomi and Majandra clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"We're ready. Let's go get that drink, eh?" she said enthusiastically.

"Right," he said, grinning.

They walked out of the temple and saw the darkening sky of early evening. A few stars twinkled above as the firelight from the City Core drowned out the fainter ones. The stench of burning corpses still hung heavy in the air, and they tried to ignore it as best they could. They made their way to a large building that was southwest of the temple: the Moonstone Mask. As they drew nearer to the building, they could hear music and laughter coming through the walls. When they opened the main door to the establishment, a wave of sound and light greeted them.

Merriment seemed to be contagious the moment you entered the place, because Tomi was already grinning and giddy with excitement.

Saria and Majandra looked around their surroundings, Majandra because she never got the chance to visit and Saria because she'd never really been in a tavern. A large woman dressed in pale blue clothing walked around slowly in the main room, observing and checking on different patrons. Saria got Majandra's attention and asked her who she might be.

"That's probably the matron mother of the place," Majandra told her. "She certainly looks the part."

Saria nodded and, with help from Tomi, they all sat down at a table with a few other people. The matron must have noticed them, because she came right over and addressed them.

"Good evening to you," she said, doing a small curtsy. "My name is Ophala Chelderstorn, and I am the matron of the Moonstone Mask. How may we serve you this evening?"

"Good evening, ma'am," Saria responded. "We're newcomers to your establishment, and are unfamiliar with your selection of food and drink. Would you be so kind as to tell us your assortment of refreshments?"

Majandra and Tomi both swung their heads around to stare at Saria, while Ophala smiled sweetly at her.

"The Moonstone Mask always welcomes well-mannered guests. I would be happy to tell you what we have to offer."

As she went through various items, Majandra, Tomi, and Saria made their choices. Ophala got the attention of one of the serving girls and told her the order, and she ran off to place the order. When their drinks and food arrived, they all ate cheerfully. In the middle of a bite, Tomi turned to Saria and asked her something.

"Oi, Saria, how is it that ye've never been in a tavern, yet you seem to act like you've been to one before?"

Saria shrugged.

"I really don't know. I guess I'm just not that shy when it comes to situations I'm unfamiliar with."

Tomi took a swig of some dark drink that he'd ordered.

"Not shy, eh? You'll want to be careful where ya say that, m'lady," he said, grinning at her.

Majandra snorted with amusement.

"I'll say."

She eyed Tomi's drink as he downed it and asked for another.

"Tomi, what the hell are you drinking?"

He looked at her with an eyebrow raised as he swayed in his seat.

"An' why d'_you_ wanna know, lass?"

"Because you're a little man, and little men shouldn't be drinking such strong ales," Majandra said, putting her arm on the table.

"Ah, mind your tongue," he said, waving her off. "I'm plenty used to drinking, so don't you question me, lass."

"I'm not your lass, halfling," she growled.

Saria looked between the two as they argued and she sighed, continuing to eat her food. She only stepped in when their voices began to rise. It took some effort, but she finally calmed them to just glaring at each other while they consumed food and drink. They had finally finished eating, and they were down to just drinks. At this point, Tomi was egging Saria to try some of his ale.

"Ah, c'mon, Saria! It's good, you'll like it!"

"Tomi, I don't think I should…"

"Aw, but why not?"

"I have my own beverage, so I'll enjoy it instead."

Tomi finally got up and wrapped an arm around Saria's shoulders, with mug in hand.

"Ah, but this is better! C'mon, just one sip?"

"Tomi…"

"One sip an' I'll shut up, honest!"

Majandra snorted.

"I'll believe _that_ when I see it…"

"Oi! You keep your mouth shut and let her decide! So, what'll it be, Saria?"

He waved the mug in front of Saria, coming close to sloshing it all over the table. Saria sighed and decided to give in.

"Just one sip?" she asked.

"Aye."

"…oh, fine."

She took the mug from Tomi and eyed it before taking a swig. Almost immediately she began coughing, which sent Tomi in a roar of laughter. She put the mug on the table and held a hand to her chest as her face went red.

"There's your one sip," she said as best she could between coughs.

"Aye, one sip," he said, taking his mug back with a chuckle. "You're not used to drinking, are ya, lass?"

Saria shook her head.

"Not exactly," she said, beginning to giggle at her own reaction.

"That's something I'll have t'fix, then, isn't it?" he asked.

Saria giggled, and Majandra sighed.

"Heavens, that burned," Saria said to herself.

Apparently Tomi heard it and he grinned.

"Wanna try it again?"

Saria opened her mouth, thought, then closed it again. Majandra eyed her warily and shook her head.

"I don't think you want to do that," she warned. "Because if you start to like it, you'll end up just as lit as he is."

She pointed at Tomi. They realized, however, that he'd lost interest while they were talking and began to do a jig to the music that the musicians were playing. He'd found a girl to dance with and other people began to dance as well. Sometime during the dance, however, Tomi seemed to have caught her skirt in his hand and, as a result, a resounding slap was heard throughout the room. This brought about a roar of laughter from all the males in the room, and Tomi came back to the table with a bright red mark on his face and a grin from ear to ear.

"I'm havin' a fine time, how about you, lass?" he asked, turning to Saria.

Saria didn't know whether to laugh or be appalled. She decided to laugh and he began laughing with her. Majandra looked between the two and shook her head, finding she was chuckling as well. A few drinks later, all three of them were telling jokes with another group of people and laughing up a storm. Soon after, another rousing tune began to play and Tomi unexpectedly took Saria's hand to dance. For the duration of the song, more people joined in as the song got louder. Saria was beginning to enjoy herself more and more as the night wore on, loving the fact all three of them were having such a good time. When the song was over, Saria sat back down and sighed, content.

Majandra grinned and leaned over.

"It looks like you and Tomi are getting along quite well. A little _too_ well as far as an adventurer and her henchman goes, I think."

Saria looked at Majandra and gave her a questioning look.

"Are you saying that I'm getting too close? That we're crossing boundaries, is that it?" she asked with a slur in her voice.

Majandra shrugged.

"I'm only saying what I see," she said with a smirk. "All I'm saying is be mindful of what's going on, okay? I could care less whether or not you and Tomi have feelings for each other. I just don't want to see you make a decision that you'll end up regretting."

Saria stared at her for a minute, grinned, grabbed Tomi's mug and took a swig.

"Oh, lighten up, will you? I'm only having fun."

At that moment, Tomi walked over with a big grin on his face.

"So you _do_ like it, aye?"

Saria smirked.

"What are you talking about? This is mine."

Tomi laughed.

"An' I'm supposed t'believe that? Ah well, that just means I have to get another."

The night continued, and Majandra had left by this time. Which, to Saria's surprise, left her and Tomi on their own. Saria had stopped drinking a half-hour ago, but Tomi still kept at it. The dancing and merriment finally began to die down, which meant either leaving the Moonstone Mask or the option of going to one of the upstairs rooms. Tomi wanted the second option, but Saria convinced him otherwise and they left. Tomi could barely walk straight, so Saria helped him along.

Somehow they had come across an empty house, and Saria figured that would be the best place for them both to sleep off the night's effects. Saria locked the door behind her as they entered and Tomi fell on the floor.

"C'mon Tomi," she said, helping him up. "You need to get some rest. As do I. So come on…"

She helped him upstairs and into a bed. The room had one bed, so Saria went to lie down with Tomi. She had just begun to get comfortable when she saw Tomi sit up and look over to her. He smiled.

"I had a good night, how about you, m'lady?"

Saria nodded.

"Yes, I had quite a fun time. But we really do need to--"

Before she had a chance to finish, Tomi had leaned down and kissed her. She stopped and blinked at him, not sure what to say. He smiled at her and kissed her again, and held it. She sighed, feeling helpless as the feeling of his kiss washed over her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he positioned himself over her, making no move to stop him. After a while, she finally broke the kiss.

"Tomi?" she asked quietly.

"Aye?"

"What are we doing?"

Tomi stopped for a moment to consider his answer, then smiled at her.

"I don't know, but I don't want it to stop."

Saria nodded.

"Me neither."

**000000000000**

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I can't believe this! Tomi and Saria…in bed?! Y'see? This is why you don't want to drink, because you could end up like this! (points to story) XP So, what's gonna happen next? Who knows? But it's gonna be good!

By the way, the entire time I was writing this, I was listening to Celtic songs. And I'll be happy to tell you which ones so you can get the full effect of the story!

The entire pub scene (song, album, artist):

Egan's Polka/Maggie in the Woods, Connaught Man's Rambles/Out on the Ocean (Celtic Legends, Songs of Lore by Aideen O'Brien and the Five Fifths)

Off to California/Boys of Bluehill (Celtic Legends: Songs of Love by Aideen O'Brien and the Five Fifths)

_I alternated between these three songs_

The love scene (song, album, artist):

The Salley Garden (Celtic Dreams by Alisa Jones)

I, in no way shape or form, claim rights to any of these songs. They just inspired the creativity of this chapter.

Much love and unexpectedness,

Saria


	11. Chapter 8

Sweet! One review so far! (well, since I've been back, anyway) And he brought up a good point, which I will clear up for him right now.

To Neil Hansen:

You'll find out why I didn't tell where Majandra slept in this chapter. Since chapter six through nine, I've already planned and written out without input from reviewers. With Majandra, well…she's not my character. At all. She's property of Kaia Moonchild, and her story, Never Again, is under my favorite stories. As for her being a fey'ri permitted amongst the city folk, you'll have to read for that answer as well. So you might want to contact Kaia to get the basic background on Majandra (if you really wanted to). Besides, I'me glad you enjoyed it!

So, now that that's cleared up, on with the story.

I don't own Neverwinter Nights, blah blah blah, you get the point…on with the show!

(ahem) By the way, for those of you who are personally involved with the story (namely Kaia), I thought I'd act on the many presumptions of Saria and Tomi getting together. It was okay, but I didn't want to reveal too much of my thought process. By the way, you're in for a shocker in this chapter. I thought it made for a good twist (wink).

**Chapter 8:**

**Back to the Quest**

Majandra woke up in a room of a house in the City Core, blinking away sleep dust from her eyes. She tossed her blanket off and adorned herself in her usual attire of black. Opening the armoire in her room, she retrieved her wakizashi and strapped them to her belt.

She remembered the night previous, where she, Saria, and Tomi had some rest and relaxation at the Moonstone Mask. She also remembered she had left earlier than they did, which worried her some.

"I hope she and Tomi didn't stay out _too_ late," she thought out loud, walking down the steps.

Majandra had found this place when she had roamed the streets for a place to stay for the night. She'd found a nice, middle-aged couple who were allowing adventurers to stay in their home, so long as they didn't bring the plague within the household. They were very kind, she found, for the smell of cooking food wafted up the stairwell. When she saw the wife in the kitchenette bringing several plates to the table, she had to smile. She sat down with the husband and another adventurer who had found the nice couple and a platter was set before her. It was filled with eggs, bacon, and cooked potatoes. She smiled at the wife.

"Thank you. You are very kind to offer such hospitality to strangers."

"You adventurers are helping to find a cure for this plague. So we like to help any way we can, dear," she responded.

She ate her breakfast silently, taking a few sips of water she was given. From the window she could see a quarter of the sun rising above the Core walls. She decided it was time to go and find Saria, so she finished up her breakfast. She brought the plate and mug to the sink and helped wash her own dishes. When the wife began to object, she shook her head.

"No, no, I'd like to help. Besides, I need to find my friend. She was out late last night, so I want to find her and make sure she's alright."

The woman blinked.

"Your friend…was she with a short man?"

Majandra's eyes widened.

"You've seen her?"

"Oh yes, dearie, she came wandering to our doorstep long after you had showed up. The poor girl couldn't walk or even talk straight. We only had one bed left, so we had to put her and the fellow she was with in the same bed. Risky, but it was all we had left."

Majandra restrained as best she could from snickering.

"So she's here?"

"Yes, dear. She's upstairs."

"Thank you very much," she said with a smile, hugging her.

Majandra sprinted up the stairs, and, sure enough, found Saria and Tomi sound asleep, Saria on her back and Tomi across her midriff, in a bed together. Majandra shut her eyes and put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Taking a deep breath, she controlled her giggles and walked into the room. She placed a hand on Saria's shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Saria, Saria, wake up," she whispered.

All it produced was a low, tired groan from the half-elf, so Majandra shook her harder.

"Saria, wake up!" she hissed.

She turned her head into her pillow, positioning her ear right under Majandra's mouth. This produced a mischievous idea from Majandra.

"You leave me no choice, Saria," she said with a nasty grin.

She took a deep breath…

"SARIA! TOMI! GET UP _NOW!!_"

Saria's eyes shot open as she screamed, jumping like a fish out of a stream, before she landed with a hard thud on the floorboards. This jumping momentum tossed Tomi against the wall.

"I didn't touch 'er, I swear!" he yelled as he leaned up and looked around frantically.

Majandra cracked up, holding her arms across her stomach and backing up from laughing so hard.

"If that's true," she said between bursts of laughter, "then why are you in your skivvies in a bed with her?"

Tomi looked down, saw his top-half bare, and covered it with the blanket.

"What're you talkin' about?" he said nervously.

When he pulled the covers, he had pulled them from Saria who'd taken them with her when she fell. This revealed she was also in her nightwear. Majandra snickered.

"Well, now, Saria," she said with a smirk. "I never expected _you_ to be in this kind of situation."

Saria blinked and rubbed the dust from her eyes. The first thing she saw was a grinning Majandra.

"So, princess, how did you sleep?" she asked jokingly.

"I…what's going on?" she asked groggily.

"You apparently found refuge here after our 'night on the town'."

Tomi recovered from the sudden wake-up call and got up, looking around.

"Where are we?" he asked, confused.

"Saria brought you here last night for a place to rest after you finally left the Moonstone Mask. I'm especially surprised at YOU, Saria," she said, turning to the cleric. "I thought you were too much of a goody-two-shoes to let yourself get that drunk."

Tomi grinned.

"Oi, 'at's right! She took me ale, an' that stuff's not somethin' to mess with, aye?"

"That's right," Majandra said to a now blushing Saria. "I wouldn't be surprised if you two had lost your senses last night…if you get what I mean."

Saria blinked.

"What do you…?"

Tomi frowned.

"I wouldn't ruin her like that, m'lady, lost sense or no."

Saria blinked, remembered something, and blushed. Majandra noticed this and grinned.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"Aye," Tomi said, scowling.

Majandra shrugged.

"Okay. Let's get a move-on, then. We've had enough rest, now let's get back to the _mission_."

She said 'mission' with a grin, looking at Saria. She walked out, leaving Saria and Tomi to dress.

"So what happened exactly?" Tomi asked as he turned his back to let Saria dress.

"Well you got really drunk last night. As did I, I believe. But I think I was sober enough to find a way here for the both of us."

Tomi had a guilty look on his face as he responded.

"Eh…I'm sorry about las' night," he said. "I really shouldn't have made you try all those ales."

He heard the rustling of clothes, but not a response. He began to feel even worse, when he suddenly felt someone whisper in his ear.

"Personally, I want to thank you. On my own, I probably woulnd't have even tried something like that. So…thank you."

With that, he felt a kiss on his cheek. He blushed and spun around to face her. He just as quickly turned away because she was not completely dressed. He heard her giggle and he grinned to himself.

"By the way, Tomi…" she began.

"Aye?"

"Do you…remember anything happening after we left the Moonstone Mask? Like…after we got here?"

Tomi thought for a moment.

"No…I think we fell right asleep. Why?"

Saria blushed.

"Nothing. I must have dreamt it, then…"

Tomi raised an eyebrow and grinned, turning around. Saria was dressed, so she made no sound of surprise. She noticed his expression and immediately became nervous.

"W-what?"

"I dunno. Why don't you tell me?"

She blushed and became timid when his grin became wider.

"What d-do you mean?"

"Ah, nothin'. Jus' wonderin' what you dreamt about, that's all."

"I…it was just a silly dream, that's all."

"Couldn'ta been _that_ silly if you're askin' me if anythin' happened between us last night."

Saria turned around and crossed her arms, acting haughty.

"Well…it was nothing but a dream, so let's go."

Tomi snickered.

"Aye. I suppose you're right. After all, we wouldn't want you to be havin' any more thoughts like that about a halfling, now would we?"

She turned around with a shocked look on her face, which made Tomi laugh and run out the door. By this time, Saria's face was crimson. To both their surprise, Majandra had been eavesdropping on the conversation. Saria shrieked and ran after both of them. After a physically sharp, painful reprimand from Saria, all three companions made their way back to the Temple of Tyr.

They stood before the glowing portal, ready to resume their quest. Saria took a big breath and stepped in the portal first. Tomi and Majandra followed her, and they heard a voice inside their heads.

"This portal will take you back to the place you last used the Stone of Recall. However, this service will cost you 50 gold. If you need to return to the place you last died, speak to the priest."

Saria fished around for the 50 gold and held it in her hands. The gold dissipated into thin air, and they felt a sensation that made it seem like the room was melting away. A sudden flash of yellow light startled them, and they found themselves back in front of the stairwell they left in the prison. All the stenches and heavy atmosphere came rushing back, but Saria didn't freak out like she had before. Majandra opened the gate and began the trek downwards to the Pits. Saria began to, but faltered. She felt a hand tightening over hers and she saw Tomi smiling at her.

"We ready to go, m'lady?" he asked.

She grasped his hand in return.

"Aye," she replied with a smile.

They looked at each other for a moment, but when they turned to face the stairwell, they saw Majandra smiling up at them.

"C'mon, love birds," she called jokingly. "You can make love later."

Saria's face immediately turned red.

"That is, unless, you haven't done so already?"

Majandra ran after saying this, and for good reason. Saria unlatched her staff from her back strap and began chasing her down the flight of steps, yelling things she wouldn't otherwise. Tomi just laughed as the two females began, from what he heard, quite a sparring match. As he made his way down, he contemplated the fey'ri's words.

After all, it wasn't like he hadn't thought of it before…

He was simply wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

**000000000000**

Well, that was certainly…eventful. (snicker) Did I not tell you it would be a twist? Anyway, I believe you all know what to do…

No? Okay.

R&R and tell me whatcha thinks, aye?

Much love,

Saria

On another note, I'm thinking about starting a FFXII story. There _is_ the chance of it interfering with not only the progress of SftC, but also with some of my school work. I'm sure I'd manage, but it would be quite the circus act. Tell me what you think in your review and, depending on how many yays or nays I receive, you all might see an upcoming FFXII story coming from me. It all falls on my readers' input. I either will or will not do it.

…have I put enough pressure on you? Are you going to give me an opinion? Hm? Hm? HM?? (smirks) I love doing that. Anyway, tell me and I'll see what I can do.


	12. Chapter 9

Alrighty, so…here's the final chapter regarding the Intellect Devourer, and I assure you it will get _nasty_. I'm not kidding, either. I think this is the most grotesque and bloodist chapter I've written yet…and I'm quite proud, to say the least. It's good, but definitely not for those who can't handle reference to blood or amputated body parts. Not M material, but some might consider it a little close. If you do, and make a mention of it in a review (and if enough people make a fuss about it), I will be happy to adjust the rating to the proper level. If there are little to no complaints, it's staying on T level.

I'm only putting the option out there because I don't want to lose readers (or my privilege to post my story), and this is exactly the sort of thing that can do that. I am more than happy to accomadate any of my readers so they can better enjoy my work. And now, without further ado…

Chapter nine! Enjoy.

**Chapter 9:**

**Intellect Devourer**

Majandra sat on the floor of the small corridor that the stairwell led the party to, drinking a healing potion.

"Didn't know a cleric could hit so hard…" she muttered as she massaged a nasty bruise on the side of her right thigh.

Putting her staff on her back once more, Saria knelt down and cast a healing spell on her fey'ri companion.

"You feeling better?" Saria asked.

"As soon as this soreness leaves my flesh, yes," she replied wryly.

Saria winced.

"I didn't mean to hit so hard, Majandra," she said apologetically. "I guess I just…got a little worked up."

Majandra grinned.

"Like I bet you did last night?"

SMACK!

"Yes, I believe you'll be alright," Saria said with a smile, standing up as Majandra rubbed her arm.

"So, are we gonna get into the Pits or what, m'lady?" Tomi asked.

Saria nodded.

"I suppose we should. After all, it's not going to get done with us just standing around bickering."

"And hitting the other members of this group," Majandra added flatly, getting up.

"Well, if you would keep your mouth shut, m'lady," Tomi added, shrugging.

"You mean like you should be doing now?" Majandra growled.

Tomi shrugged and walked towards Saria.

"Lead the way, m'lady," he said, bowing.

She nodded.

"Let's go," she said confidently.

The first few prison areas of the Pits proved slightly difficult for the group, mainly because of the constant onslaught of prisoners and convicts. They made it through the southern and eastern wing when Saria leaned on a wall, breathing heavily. Majandra went over and put a hand on her back. She felt Saria's heart beating rapidly.

"We may need to rest," Majandra said. "We have all fought hard, and Saria and I have exhausted most of our spells."

Tomi nodded, leaning on the same wall.

"Let's go back to the temple," Saria suggested. "We can rest there and get rid of some of the items we've…well, _you've_ picked up from some of the corpses."

Majandra smiled.

"You're learning to get things from dead people, are you? I'm proud of you."

Saria pursed her lips.

"I'm telling you, you can find some interesting stuff when you raid corpses," Majandra said, shrugging.

Saria shivered.

"But it feels so…_wrong_."

The fey'ri laughed.

"Don't worry, my half-elven friend. You hand around Majandra Damar long enough, and you'll grow out of that."

Saria pouted.

"But I don't want-"

By this time, Majandra had reached into Saria's travel pack for the Stone of Recall and activated it. Saria, startled, yipped when she was thrown onto the stone floor of the Temple of Tyr. The cleric glared at Majandra as she helped her from the ground.

"I still love my cleric," she said with a grin. "Besides, it was payback for smacking me before we began in the Pits."

The fey'ri hugged Saria, but she just snorted.

"Yes, well…" Saria began, pushing a still-grinning Majandra from her. "I just don't want this to turn into a revenge match."

The group walked down the short section of stairs to Lady Aribeth, trading the items they found for gold and talking amongst themselves as they did so. When the transactions were done, goodbyes said and portal fee paid, they went back to clearing out the Pits. It took them longer to get through the third floor of the prison because the prisoners became significantly tougher as the group pushed through. They fought through more of these convicts, many of which posed quite a challenge even if there were only groups of three or five; this surprised Saria, considering they were wearing little to no protection against any sort of weapon. The group ran into several spell-casting prisoners, which Majandra took care of easily. They eventually cleared the first level of the Pits, but they had one more obstacle they weren't quite expecting.

Sometime earlier, on the first level of the prison, they had found a book in an office library that, in gold-leaf lettering, read 'Prison Journal'. In reading it, Saria found that the Head Gaoler's right-hand guard, Kurdan Fenkt, was helping with the entire prison's release of prisoners. They did not, however, expect to find out that he was a towering half-orc armed with a double axe and a look that could kill…literally. That was what they saw when they entered the final door of the prison's third level. They walked in on a conversation between who was, no doubt, Kurdan Fenkt, but also a man of reasonably large build for a human male.

The Head Gaoler.

"…make sure you get rid of them," they heard him say in an eerie, inhuman voice. "I cannot be interrupted while I'm…_feasting_."

Saria shivered.

"I don't like the sound of that, Majandra," she said as the Head Gaoler opened a great door that led further down into the prison.

Kurdan Fenkt turned around at the sound of the half-elf's voice and let out a fearsome battle cry. He lunged forward and the group readied themselves for impact. Saria, never having to fight a half-orc before (at least, not this large), somewhat faltered before she attacked.

A near-fatal mistake.

The blade of his double axe came barreling down over Saria's head. She shrieked and held her staff tightly over her head, preparing for the worst-possible impact, when she heard the resounding clash of metal-on-metal. She peeked an eye open and saw Majandra's form before hers, crossing Rekkei and Tekkei in the air to halt what would have been a bloody and instant death for Saria. Muscles flexing to support her movement, Majandra heaved the heavy axe blade to the side and brought Rekkei up for a quick attack to Kurdan's throat. His head swung up and out of the range of the dark blade. Swinging the double axe around for another attack, Kurdan made an attempt on Majandra's life this time.

Prepared, Majandra side-stepped out of the axe's path of movement. Saria mimicked Majandra's maneuver, moving in the opposite direction. The impact of the axe was not stopped by anything but the floor this time, which, when it hit, sent vibrations through the ground. Not only that, but it tore the rug and cut a reasonably-sized rift in the stone. Majandra, taking advantage of the recoil effect, thrust Tekkei towards Kurdan's torso. Making a direct hit to his side, the half-orc let out a cry of pain and faltered in his stance. Yanking his axe from the ground, Kurdan swung around to attack Majandra.

But, with Majandra's blade still stuck in his flesh and Majandra's hand still attached to the hilt, this motion picked Majandra from her feet and sent her flying to the opposite wall. She hit it with a thud and a hiss of anguish, falling to the floor dazed. Kurdan's back was turned on Saria and Tomi, which they both took advantage of. Saria grabbed hold of Tekkei and pulled it from Kurdan's side, while Tomi ran up and leaped for his back. Wrapping an arm around his thick neck, Tomi began stabbing wherever he could, flaying blood everywhere. Kurdan screamed in pain and felt around on his back. When his hand made contact with Tomi's head, his large fingers latched onto Tomi's cranium and tossed him clear across the room. The half-orc wheeled on Saria, who cowered before him with her staff in one hand and Tekkei in the other. Latching her staff to her back, she armed herself with Tekkei and prayed that the spirit within the blade would not turn against the non-owner. Kurdan grinned wide, showing a set of sharp teeth on a broad jaw.

"You pitiful half-elf, yuh?" he asked in a gruff voice. "Scared of Kurdan Fenkt? You be smart half-elf. Meybe I kill you fast, yuh?"

Saria's breathing was beginning to quicken and become irregular.

"I'm not pitiful," she argued, standing taller and masking the timidness in her voice. "Nor am I scared."

Kurdan's grin became a scowl and he tightened his grip on his double axe.

"Meybe you not so smart."

"You may not think so," Saria said with a smirk, becoming bold. "But I know you certainly aren't."

Kurdan growled and set his jaw, eyes becoming wide with fury. Opening his mouth, he let out an angry yell and heaved his axe down upon Saria. She ran from the attack and turned about, hacking at the back of his knee with Tekkei. Kurdan let out a howl of pain, falling to a kneeling position and holding the leg that Saria had attacked. Infuriated, he reached behind him and grabbed hold of Saria with his left hand. Dragging her by her clothes, he threw her on the stone before him. Getting a better hold of his axe, he held Saria down by her stomach as he raised his blade in preparation of her incapacitation. Eyes growing wide in horror, Saria squirmed as hard as she could to free herself of his grip. All it did was make him smile as the fall of the axe began. Saria slipped free just before the axe made contact, making Kurdan's hand slide on the stone and right under the axe's impact. The blade sliced off his hand about an inch below the knuckles, leaving only his wrist and part of his thumb left intact. He howled in agony and terror at the loss of his left hand. He dropped the axe as he cradled the intact remains as the severed part of his hand lay limp.

Saria watched the blood of the butchered hand drain and pool into the cracks of the stone, trails coming her way. She pushed herself away and held Tekkei at the ready, not knowing what the half-orc would do next. She suddenly saw a blur of black as Majandra ran up to kick Kurdan in the head to knock off his helm. He tried to escape, but Majandra kicked him again, harder, sending his head flying towards the stone. The impact made a sickening crack as drips of blood became apparent. Pushing a now weeping Kurdan on his back, Majandra straddled his chest and pulled out Rekkei.

Saria noticed something odd about the blade.

The steel was…jagged.

It then became apparent to her what Majandra was about to do, and Saria had to turn away. Majandra placed the blade on his neck and grabbed hold of a handful of the half-orc's hair. She yanked up the head and began sawing at his flesh. When she finally cut through his skin and bone, she tossed the head behind her and got up, shaking the blade of blood. Saria felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked to her right, seeing Majandra's tired face. Saria's eyes drifted down to Rekkei and saw that the blade no longer had teeth. Majandra sheathed Rekkei and took Tekkei from Saria's shaking hand. Shaking the blood from that blade, she sheathed it also.

"We need to go down there," Majandra said quietly. "We need to go down and finish this. Heal Tomi, then we go after the devourer."

Saria made no response, only fell to her knees. Majandra knelt before her and wrapped her arms around the soon-sobbing cleric. Majandra rubbed Saria's back as she tried to comfort her, whispering reassurances to her shaken friend. When Saria quieted down, Majandra pulled away and looked Saria in the eyes. She wiped her eyes and nose, looking back at the fey'ri.

"I need you to make one last stretch, okay?" Majandra asked.

Saria nodded.

"Think about the mission. Think of how much closer we'll be to saving people from the plague when we finish this. We have to be together on this one, okay?" she said, trying to rally some confidence from her friend.

Saria nodded again.

"Okay," she said weakly.

Majandra helped her up and guided her over to Tomi, who groaned in pain. She took special care to keep Saria's gaze from going to the decapitated corpse as they made their way over. Majandra knelt down along with Saria as the cleric performed a healing spell with shaking hands. Tomi winced as he slowly moved his limbs. Letting out a small groan of pain from moving his neck, Saria felt around and found his neck muscles had been hyperextended when he was tossed by Kurdan. Casting a warming spell on her hands, she tried to get the muscles to their original positions. As Saria did this, Tomi had a content smile on his face for the relaxation it brought. When she stopped, Tomi rubbed his neck and winced.

"Try moving your head again," Saria instructed. "And let's see if it did anything."

He did as he was told, and there was no groan of pain. Tomi stood up and smiled.

"Thanks, m'lady," he said, offering her a hand.

Saria took it, and Majandra stood with her. Tomi looked around Saria and his eyes fell on the half-orc's corpse. His expression changed form surprise to disgust when he saw blood pooling everywhere and the disconnected head and hand. Saria took notice and shivered, knowing what his gaze held. Majandra pulled Tomi over and told him the same thing she'd told Saria: to go down the final flight of steps and take care of the Intellect Devourer.

"The Intellect Devourer takes control of a person's mind, working through them to do its bidding," Majandra informed them. "So, until it's finished eating the brain of the person it's possessed, the devourer can speak through and attack others with that person."

"Would he have just the Head Gaoler down there, though?" Saria asked, regaining her voice.

"That's a good question," Majandra mused. "But I doubt it. From what he was saying through the Head Gaoler, he must have at least a couple guards that it's brainwashed down there. And he was expecting us, from what we heard."

Majandra stopped speaking for a moment, thinking. When she was finished, she nodded.

"Saria, Tomi and I will attack the Head Gaoler. I need you to focus on getting as many guards as you can from under the devourer's hold and out of the dungeon before we kill the Head Gaoler. The Intellect Devourer will no doubt transfer from body to body if we just keep killing its host."

"And those would be lives needlessly lost," Saria finished, understanding her task.

Tomi gulped.

"Eh, m'lady, I'm all for helping you two, but…"

"You don't have to go toe-to-toe with the Gaoler, just be a distraction so I can hurt it more," she said with a mischevious grin.

Her expression then turned serious.

"But once we get the devourer out of the host body, it will come to us in true form. When that happens, it makes it harder to kill. The Intellect Devourer comes from an area under Waterdeep called the Undermountain, and, ultimately, the Underdark. So these creatures are not ones to mess with."

"But…what if it tries to take over one of our bodies?" Saria asked nervously.

"It won't. It will be too focused on killing us, so you don't need to worry about it. So, are we ready?"

Saria and Tomi nodded, and Majandra smiled.

"Then let's go get ourselves a reagent."

The group made their way down the flight of steps and to the final level of the prison. There was dim lighting, save the few torches that were scattered throughout. In the center of the room, nearly hidden behind a wall, was the Head Gaoler.

"I've been expecting you," he said in the same eerie voice. "Just what I need, more brains to feed me."

This stopped Saria. Majandra knew this and hissed at her.

"Go! We'll take care of the devourer."

"YOU'LL TAKE CARE OF NO ONE!!" the devourer screeched.

The Head Gaoler lunged forward with a naked blade in hand. Saria ran as Majandra and Tomi readied themselves for battle. Saria heard the clash of metal as she searched through the near-darkness for any guards in the area. She found one and made her way over. She tapped him on the shoulder, but there was no response. She stood before him and looked closely to see his face in the dim light. His eyes were empty, barren of any emotion. No matter what she did, even if she smacked him on the forehead, he made no move. Then she tried speaking to him.

"You must get out of here! Your life is in grave danger if you remain in this dungeon," she said.

The guard suddenly came to, holding his head in pain and confusion.

"Go!" she repeated. "You must flee from this place!"

The guard nodded his thanks and ran for the stairwell.

"Noo!" the devourer hissed. "You wench! You'll die for releasing my prey!"

Through the darkness Saria heard running footsteps coming closer and she shrieked, running away from them. The footsteps followed hers and she chanced a look back. They passed a lantern and Saria saw just enough to make her nearly stop in her tracks. The face of the Head Gaoler was twisted in rage, eyes vacant of a soul. His blade was raised for attack. Just before the Gaoler reached her, one of Majandra's swords came up and stabbed him in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, whirling about to attack Majandra. Saria took advantage of this and ran for the other guards, freeing all but one when she heard the gurgle of death from the Head Gaoler's mouth. Just before she reached the last one, the guard reeled around and held her gaze with a mad one.

His eyes were opened wider than they should have been on a human, and his hands reached out for Saria. He began walking slowly towards her, going a little faster the more she pulled away.

"Come, half-elf," he taunted. "Let me feast on you."

Saria, mortified, kept walking backwards until she hit a wall. The minute she did, the guard charged forward with the same insane gaze and mouth open. Saria yipped and moved out of the way just as the guard hit the wall with a resounding slap. The guard peeled his face from the wall and turned it towards her, pulling his body from the wall and beginning the chase again. Saria ran full-force from him this time, but had a somewhat difficult time seeing. Because she was half-elf, she could only see partially in the dark. She was not entirely paying attention, and it proved so as she hit a wall. Letting out a groan, she pulled herself from the stone and turned around.

Bad mistake.

The guard the devourer had possessed slammed into Saria's body, which brought about a cry of pain. She slid to the floor onto moulding straw, and the guard followed. He began chewing and clawing at her flesh, drawing blood from the trembling half-elf. She couldn't reach her staff because she'd been pushed on her back, so she settled for fist-fighting and held him at bay long enough to regain stability and draw her staff against him. The next thing she knew, there was a blade protruding from the guard's skull. The guard, eyes wide from shock, fell forward and onto Saria. She pushed the body away from her as Majandra retracted her blade from the dead guard's head. They suddenly heard an angry screech and the group saw a frightening sight.

A creature began to emerge from the dead guard's body, becoming more visible with every passing second. The creature's main body looked like a massive brain, encased by some invisible film to keep it from spilling off of the body. Its claws were massive and sharp, and looked purely of bone. The face consisted of only a nose and fangs, which were bared dangerously at the group. Saria backed herself against the wall as the devourer turned on her. It gave out a low hiss and its bottom jaw lowered to open the mouth. Saria lifted her staff and struck it across its brain. It hissed in pain and walked backwards, letting Saria escape from being against the wall.

Majandra let loose several spells on the creature, and Saria followed suit. It soon writhed on the floor, hissing and biting the air. Just as the group thought it was on its last leg of life, its head sprung up and purple rings were projected from its mouth. Majandra was stunned, and Tomi was struck with fear. That left Saria and the devourer to battle it out until either Majandra snapped out of it, Tomi broke the hold that fear had on him, she used the Stone of Recall, or possibly all three. But in the meantime, though, Saria was on her own.

And these were odds she didn't like at all.

She was up against a creature who was from the Underdark, an area so shrouded in darkness that she shuddered to think of it. Moreover, it was directly beneath her home city: Waterdeep. Thinking of her home made her insides twist, reminding her of the discomfort caused by the archaic structure of her family. And now that she was fighting something that came from close to her home region, it took away some of her anxiety and replaced it with the will to fight. She held her staff at the ready as she prepared for the creauter's next attack. The Intellect Devourer cast another barrage of purple rings at Saria. She braced herself against it and successfully resisted both the stunning and scaring effect, retaliating with a strike to the brain area. It proved to be a bit of a weak point for the devourer, making it recoil with a growl. She exploited this advantage several times, thinking the battle would soon be over. As she struck the brain a fifth time, she was suddenly bombarded with another barrage of purple rings. Being caught off guard proved detrimental as she became stunned by the spell, considering there was, what Saria could see through the darkness, an evil grin coming from the creature. Her eyes widened as she found herself at the mercy of the brain-consuming beast.

She shut her eyes as she awaited the strikes from the devourer, but they did not come.

At least, not physical ones.

Saria felt an odd sensation of tendrils wrapping themselves around her head, even though she saw nothing. They floated around, brushing the top of and around her head. It seemed to carress her mind, testing to see what kind of reaction it would get. She then felt another presence in her mind, but it seemed familiar. Friendly, in fact. Then, as suddenly as the second presence came to being, the first tendrils to probe her head became sharp as they pierced Saria's mind. The second presence screamed 'No!' and attacked the tendrils penetrating Saria's brain. Saria became completely dazed as the two forces battled it out within her mind. She suddenly fell backward and became aware of something ripping at her flesh.

It was the Intellect Devourer.

She tried to break away, but found her body still stunned from the devourer's earlier spell. She was now being attacked both physically and mentally, being completely conscious the entire time. She wasn't even able to move her mouth to scream from the searing pain. It continued for several moments, then suddenly ceased. Saria saw a figure bounding from the darkness and striking at the Intellect Devourer. As it did so, the mental assault, as well as the physical, stopped and left gave her a small measure of peace. She could feel the stunning effect ebbing away, and she found she could move her limbs slightly. Her eyes drifted over to the sound of clanging metal on bone and saw Majandra battling it out with the creature. Running footsteps drew her attention away from Majandra as she saw Tomi kneeling beside her and grabbing the Stone of Recall, activating it.

With a spin and a burst of light, they were whisked away to the Temple of Tyr. Upon arrival, Saria shut her eyes because of the sudden transition from dim to bright lighting. Majandra called out for the Lady Aribeth, and she made her way over quickly. The paladin looked the group over, called down a prayer of healing from the just god, and a bluish-white light fell upon them. Saria felt revitalized, finding the stun effect completely gone and the ability to move her limbs was returned to her. They rested despite the refilling of their health, for Majandra's and Saria's spells were still depleted. Once this was done, they headed back to the dank dungeon that was the devourer's lair.

Upon their return, they found the devouerer not in the same spot as when they left. This put Majandra on high alert.

"Be mindful of your surroundings," Majandra warned. "He is playing cat-and-mouse now."

"Not the best game to be on the receiving end of, aye?" Tomi whispered.

"I agree," was Saria's muttered response.

The group stayed close together, keeping a keen watch for the sneaking creature. A ball of white light was thrown in their direction, and the whole group turned. The Intellect Devourer came barreling towards them, hissing its own battle cry. Saria drew her staff as Majandra and Tomi prepared their blades. The battle continued once more until the creature fell with a screeching, mournful wail. Its body fell limp to the floor; the encasing that held the brain burst open and released brain fluid, which resulted in the brain losing a little of its mass. Majandra took out a cloth sack and plucked the reagent at the brain stem, placing the moist brain in it and tying it up.

"Let's get this back to Aribeth," she said. "Our work here is done."

Saria activated the Stone of Recall and sent the group to the Temple of Tyr once more, going to Aribeth with the sack in hand. Aribeth eyed them with curiosity as they approached. Majandra handed her the bag.

"What parcel is this?" Aribeth asked, opening it.

Her question was answered with a gasp as her almond-shaped eyes beheld the first of the four recovered reagents.

"You've found the reagent!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yes, and it was not an easy task," Majandra informed her.

The fey'ri explained what happened in the Peninsula district. As she went on, the shocked expression on the paladin's face became more and more pronounced.

"_That_ is why we lost contact in the prison?" she asked in disbelief. "As if the plague was not enough! For your valliant efforts, the only thing the city can give is three hundred gold pieces."

Majandra smiled at the amount, but Saria spoke up before she had a chance to take it.

"Please, Lady Aribeth, finding the reagent was reward enough, so we cannot accept the monetary offer. We are honored to assist in the effort to stop the Wailing Death any way we can."

Lady Aribeth seemed to have a gentle look on her face, while Majandra and Tomi both had a look of shock.

"You are too kind. I only wish more were as noble as you."

Saria bowed in a respectful thanks. The moment she came back up, Majandra dragged her away.

"What?" she hissed. "What do you _mean_ we can't accept the monetary offer?!"

Saria shook her head.

"We cannot accept such offers with a task such as this. The city can put it to better use, I am sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe we're to begin the search for the second reagent?"

Majandra tensed, pursing her lips, while Saria smiled sweetly at her.

"I still love my fey'ri," she said pleasantly, walking past her and to Lady Aribeth again.

In speaking with the paladin, she discovered the second reagent was to be found in the Beggar's Nest district. Further in the conversation, she also discovered that zombies, plague-infested animals and the like prowled the streets. Saria sighed.

"Well, looks like more fun, doesn't it?" she asked Majandra.

"Oodles," the fey'ri responded flatly, still down-spirited at the previous conflict.

The cleric giggled and led the way out of the Temple of Tyr, going to the far end of the City Core walls and to the gate which led to the Beggar's Nest.

**000000000000000**

Cool! Chapter 9 is finished! (snicker) I love how Saria mimicks Majandra at the end to piss her off. It's so funny! (dodges flying Rekkei) Anyway, I've a statement for you. If you noticed throughout the story, there have been minute mentions of Saria's past. Keep an eye out for those, for they will become more frequent. I really should post a separate story for that, but I think a flashback later on in the story would be better suited, aye? For example, I mentioned the 'archaic structure' of her family. Believe me when I say it, but you'll have to wait to read more of it. It was actually very interesting to create Saria's past. It's…well, I would speak of it, but then you'd have nothing to anticipate for. (smiles sweetly) Ain't I annoying? Well, anyway, I'll see you guys in chapter 10, kay?

Much love,

Saria


End file.
